Happy Ending
by leogalsis
Summary: Casey has finally been able to push herself into the present and not think about that horrible day, 6 years before but when a certain someone returns, she is thrown back into that day.
1. This is My Life Now

a/n: this is my first lwd fanfic, so I hope you like it. Reviews are always appreciated!

disclaimer: I own nothing. The song is owned by Mika and Life with Derek is owned by someone who isn't me.

Chapter 1: This is My Life Now

_**This is the way you left me,**_

_**I'm not pretending,**_

_**No hope, no love, no glory,**_

_**No happy ending.**_

24-year-old Casey Macdonald looked at the sweater on the hanger. Sure, she liked the colour but it had to be hand washed and she hated to hand wash. It was a sweater that she could afford though; with her budget, she was really considering buying it. It fit perfectly on her, showing off her curves that proved that she was clearly a dancer. Others that lived in the house did have some clothes to hand wash so they could each take turns. Casey sighed; she knew she was going to buy it. She couldn't keep wearing the same old clothes that she wore for two years at work. She needed to look a bit more professional.

She paid for the sweater as well as two dress pants and a dress shirt. She could mix and match these clothes with her older ones. She thought this trip to the mall was satisfying. She looked at her watch, knowing that she had to get home soon. She knew some of them would start to worry if she didn't arrive home when she said she would. Sometimes she wished that she had the nerve to let them worry and have them stand on their own two feet but she knew it wasn't fair to them. It wasn't fair for her to be selfish with everything they went through.

She just wished that she had some help occasionally, but knew she couldn't hire any extra help than what she already had. The only person that could help her would be the one person that left when things got tough. He left to follow his dream and stuck her with the problem. She couldn't say that she wasn't surprised that he left. It was what he did best, leave and only call occasionally to talk to everyone except her. He skipped holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, claiming that he had previous plans, but the truth was he didn't want to come, he couldn't handle it. Did anyone ever ask Casey though if she could handle it? No. No one did but she didn't take failure as an option. She fought and even though she never thought her life would turn out like this, she still continued with it, taking one-step at a time.

She left the store and began to walk quickly to the exit of the mall. She thought that maybe if she moved fast enough, she could park outside the house, listen to the peace and quiet for a second, and escape her life before she had to face reality. She had tunnel vision to the exit and she didn't see a young girl, about her age, walking backwards towards her. They both collided and all the bags that the girl and Casey were carrying went everywhere as they both fell to the ground.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I'm a complete klutz," the girl said, picking up Casey's bags before her own. A crowd formed around them, watching both of them scramble to get their items. Casey stood up and picked up the sweater that she debated buying that fell out of the bag. It had a footprint on the arm, as someone must have accidentally stepped on it. She picked another piece of clothing that wasn't hers and handed it to the girl as the girl handed Casey's bags to her. The small crowd that had formed deteriorated, as people got bored that the fall wasn't too exciting.

"It's alright, it was mostly my fault," Casey said to reassured the poor girl. She looked like she was new in town. You can always tell the tourists apart from the townies. Casey bent down to pick up a shirt that she knew with no question that it was the girl's. It was far too expensive to be even close to what Casey would buy.

"Are you alright Faith?" A male voice asked.

"I'm fine, just my dignity is a bit sore," the girl replied.

"I can't leave you alone for one second can I?" the male voice said, beginning to chuckle. Casey had a funny feeling that she heard this voice before but couldn't place where. Casey handed the girl her shirt and looked up at the male that had his arm wrapped around the girl's waist. She was shocked to see who was standing there. What the hell was he doing in London, the place that he has tried to escape for years.

"Derek?" Casey asked, making sure that she didn't just finally lose it.

"Casey?" he asked back, equally surprised.

"You two know each other?" the girl questioned, staring at both Casey's and Derek's stunned faces.

Reviews are always welcome!


	2. Actions Speak Louder than Words

disclaimer: I own nothing, who would have ever guessed?

Chapter 2: Actions Speak Louder than Words

_**This the way we love, **_

_**Like it's forever, **_

_**Then live the rest of our lives, **_

_**But not together.**_

No one said anything for what seemed like forever, which really was only a couple seconds. Casey stared at Derek, not believing that he was actually there. The last time he was in London was about a month after it happened. He left not only her hanging but their family also. She didn't know what to say. What should she say to the stepbrother that wouldn't even want to talk to her on the phone.

"So Derek, are you going to introduce me or to you intend to just stare at her?" the girl asked.

"Faith this is my-"

"What are you doing here Derek?" Casey asked, not caring that she interrupted him. He always interrupted her when they were teenagers.

"I'm on a business trip that is being held here, I'm going to be here for a week and I invited my girlfriend to come along," he explained. Casey nodded; mentally kicking herself that she thought for a second that he would actually be here to see his family.

"Well I gotta go; Zachie tends to get nervous if someone is not back when they say they are going to be, as you would know. Oh wait, I forgot, you wouldn't know," Casey said, feeling like she won something in her life. She then turned to Faith. "It was nice to meet you Faith, I'm hope that we can get together and talk instead of colliding into each other," she said friendly, to her, then walked away.

She knew thought that this was the probably the last time that she would see Faith because she didn't expect to see Derek again. As she walked away, she heard Derek say 'stepsister' and knew that he was explaining it to Faith. Of course, she didn't expect him to tell her the full story. What girl would want to go out with a scumbag like him and that was what she thought of him. A scumbag because of his actions, but she still felt sorry for him. She knew that he was probably blaming himself as she blamed herself but at least she took that guilt and decided to help her family instead of abandoning them.

Casey drove home as fast as she could without going too much over the speed limit. She knew that she lost her moment of silence that she was looking forward to. When she turned into the driveway, she saw Zachie at the window, instantly relaxing once he saw her. She got out of the car, grabbed her bags and quickly went inside. Once she opened the door, Zachie ran and hugged her legs. She hugged him back as she saw his tears.

"Hey, hey don't cry I'm here. I just lost track of time, that's all." Casey said, pulling Zachie away from her body to look into his eyes. He nodded and sat back down on the couch, in the same spot that he always sat at.

"He was crying since it was a minute pass the time you said you would be home. Thank goodness you're home now, it was driving me crazy," Lizzie said, coming out of the kitchen. She was holding a pen, clearly trying to do homework and watch Zachie at the same time.

"Hey, be nice, he was just scared," Casey said, closing the front door and taking off her winter jacket.

"He's always scared. He has serious abandonment issues," Lizzie replied.

"Where's Edwin?" Casey asked, changing the subject, everyone knew why he had abandonment issues. "He was suppose to spend the day with Zachie."

"He got an extra shift at work and decided to take it. Oh and I found the bill. Turns out Zachie wanted to collect the envelope to go with his envelope collection. Luckily, I found it before he decided to cut it up and flush it down the toilet," Lizzie said, handing Casey the bill, then going back to the kitchen to grab her stuff to do the rest of her homework in her room.

Casey looked at Zachie, who clearly did not notice what was happening around him. She walked over to him and bent down in front of him. "Zachie, next time you want to take an envelope, please ask me first, alright?" Casey said.

"Alright," Zachie said without taking his eyes off the t.v. Casey smiled, stood up, kissing him on the top of his head.

She then grabbed the other bills that she left on George's desk and moved them to the dinning room table. She sat in the chair that she always sat at since she moved in this house. She opened all the bills, she liked to do them all at the same time, it gave her an estimate on how much money she spent in the past month. She looked at the electricity bill, water bill, credit card bill, hospital bills and the rehab bill and sighed. With her working two jobs, and Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti's part-time jobs, they were barely surviving. She thanked her lucky stars that the city was paying for life support. If the city wasn't, they would be in a one-bedroom apartment, instead of the house that she has lived in since she was fifteen.

Casey grabbed her checkbook and started paying the bills. She planed to mail them tomorrow, on their way to church. Casey sighed and looked at Zachie. He was laughing at Sylvester falling in paint because he was trying to catch Tweedy bird. Casey slightly smiled. She sometimes wished that she could trade places with Zachie. He didn't have this huge responsibility on his shoulders that Casey had. Everyday she wished that the world would just turn back in time to that day so that she could stop it. She hated having this much responsibility at the age of twenty-four. No other twenty-four year old had this much responsibility. She wished that she could just be normal for once. She wished that she could go to work, then go to a bar with her friends, or go on a date. She missed out on all those things because of what happened that day. Casey sighed again. She knew that she shouldn't be complaining. She didn't have to go through all those things that the rest of her family had to. She just wished that she could be normal but she knew she would never get that wish; she wouldn't get a happy ending.

---

"_Casey, phone's ringing," Derek said to her, pointing his thumb behind him, towards the kitchen. He was sitting in his recliner and Casey was sitting on the couch, beside him, both watching t.v._

"_So why can't you get it?" Casey asked, not making a move to get up._

"_Because it might be one of our parents and I'm suppose to be sick," he said, fake coughing in his hand to prove a point._

"_Fine, I'll get it you lazy bum," Casey said getting up and playfully hitting him in the shoulder._

"_Hey! Be nice to the sick person!" he called, getting up to follow her, just for fun._

"_Hello?" Casey said into the phone._

"_Hey honey, how's everything?" Nora asked to her._

"_Fine, how's the family reunion?" Casey replied, trying to push Derek away because he was breathing down her neck._

"_Oh, well, Uncle Larry drank too much again and started singing 'my girl', or should I say slurring. Your grandmother's hearing has gotten worse, as well as her memory. Poor cousin Drew has been called Dean the whole weekend by her even though everyone tells her it's Drew. George has been so nervous to impress everyone that he ended up spilling red wine all over himself. Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti seem to be having a good time with all the cousins. Anyways, I just called to ask for your advice. Should I tell George that we can leave today or insist that we stay until tomorrow?" Nora said. Casey smiled and covered the talk part on the phone._

"_My mom is asking me if they should come home today or wait till tomorrow, what do you think?" Casey asked him. Derek smirked and put his arms around her waist. "I think you should wait till tomorrow. I mean when will there be another Macdonald family reunion for George to feel nervous at," Casey said into the phone._

"_That's what I was thinking. See you tomorrow."_

"_Bye mom," Casey said quickly and hanged up the phone. She turned around in Derek's arms and put her hands around his neck. _

"_Looks like we have the house to ourselves for another day," Derek said while his smirk grew._

"_I guess so," Casey said, matching Derek's smirk._

"_I have something for you," Derek said, releasing Casey and pulling out a velvet ring box from his back pocket. He knelt down and opened the box, revealing a ring. "Casey Macdonald, will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?" Derek asked._

_Casey stared at him with a blank face. "Derek, we're 18, barely adults. We only graduated from high school a month ago. We haven't even told our parents about us. Don't you think we are moving a little bit fast," Casey said. Derek stood up and shook his head._

"_There is no time like the present, besides; this can be an engaged to be engaged deal. I mean I paid 25 cents to get this ring," Derek said, hoping that Casey would say yes. Casey looked at the ring and nodded slowly. _

"_I say yes. We are engaged to be engaged," she said. Derek smiled and picked up Casey and spun her around. He put her down and placed the ring on her finger._

"_I promise you I will get you a better ring someday, my Great-Aunt Ellen can't live forever."_

"_Derek that's horrible!" Casey said, smacking him and he laughed._

"_I'm only kidding, but I will get you a better ring someday."_

"_I don't know, I think I'm getting attached to this one," Casey said, looking at the ring on her finger._

"_I'm glad you like it," Derek said, pulling her into him so that he could kiss her. _

Casey jolted up in her bed. She hadn't had a dream like that in a long time. She hated those dreams. They just reminded her of all the hopes that she use to have. She looked at her alarm clock; it was set to go off in five minutes. She got out of her bed and as if someone else was controlling her body, she went to her desk and opened the first drawer. She rummaged through it until she found the box. She opened it and took out the ring. She remembered wearing this ring, even months after he left, hoping that he would come back.

She slipped the ring onto her ring finger; it still fit perfectly, even after all these years. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. "Hello, my name is Casey Venturi. Derek and I are so please for you to join us on our wedding day," Casey whispered. She saw a tear roll down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. She pulled up her body and stared at herself in the mirror. Who cared if she didn't have the only man that she ever loved. Who cared if he had moved on and decided to date? She didn't. She was completely over him. She only thought about him because of her stupid dream. She took off the ring and placed it back into the ring box. She put the box in the drawer just when her alarm clock beeped. She turned it off and grabbed her clothes to bring to the washroom to take a shower, to get ready for church.

---

Mass was fine as usual, Casey thought as she drove back to the house. Zachie was sitting in the back of the car, playing with an action figure. They were the only ones in the car because Edwin needed to go to the store because they had run out of blank paper. Lizzie went to go on a lunch date with her boyfriend and Marti went to a friend's house. They usually went their separate ways after church and met up at the hospital in the afternoon.

"So what do you want for lunch?" Casey asked Zachie, looking at him in her rear-view mirror for a second.

"Ice cream!" he said, smiling his baby teeth and Casey laughed.

"Maybe for dessert," Casey replied as she turned into the driveway. She stopped talking when she saw Derek sitting on the porch steps. He stood up as Casey and Zachie stepped out of the car. Zachie immediately went to her side, holding her hand as if he was afraid of Derek.

"Who's that?" he whispered to her.

"That's your Uncle Derek," Casey said as they walked up the steps, both staring at Derek. Casey walked to the door and unlocked it, sending Zachie inside. "What are you doing here?" she asked Derek.

Derek held up something. Casey looked down and realized that it was the pair of dress pants that she lost the day before because of the fall. "Faith realized these weren't hers but yours and I offered to return them to you," Derek said, handing them to her. "So where do you go on a Sunday morning?" Derek asked.

"We were at church," Casey said.

"Church? Since when do you go to church?"

"Well, I thought we needed all the help that we could get so we go to church and pray," Casey said, then turning to the front door. Derek nodded and started to walk away. "Derek," Casey called after him. He turned around, looking at a very nervous Casey, as if she wasn't sure if she should say what she wanted to say. "Would you like to come in?" she finally asked.

She had no idea why she just said that, the words just kind of came out. He nodded and started walking up the porch steps. Once Derek came in, he saw that the house was no different from the day he left; the only difference was a small boy watching cartoons. Casey took off her coat and so did Derek. "Would you like something to drink or eat?" Casey asked while walking towards the kitchen.

"No thanks, I'm good," he said, following her. Casey nodded and went to the fridge and started pulling out food to make sandwiches.

"So why didn't Faith come with you?" Casey asked, breaking the awkward silence that they were stuck in.

"She had some work to do," Derek said, sitting on one of the stools that was around the island.

"Work? I thought you said that you invited her to come along to your business trip," Casey said, not looking up from the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she was making.

"I did, but she is my girlfriend and also my assistant."

Casey started laughing. "No girl is forbidden for you is she?" she asked.

Derek smiled, relaxing a bit. "What can I say, I love a challenge." Casey stopped laughing once he said that and Derek immediately wished he could take it back. He told her once that the thing he loved most about her was that with her, everything was a challenge and he loved challenges. The awkward silence came back, both of them clueless at what to say next. Then the kid came skipping into the kitchen.

"Is the food ready?" he asked Casey.

"Yup, one PB&J sandwich to go. Why don't you eat it in the dinning room today," Casey said, handing Zachie the sandwich and a glass of milk. "Just be careful."

"I know, I know," he said, carrying it off into the dinning room.

Derek thought about what he was going to say next. He wasn't sure how he wanted to phrase it. "Is that… I mean, is he-"

"Yours and mine?" Casey finished for him and he nodded. "No Derek he isn't our love child, he's Edwin's." Derek looked at her in complete shocked, he had no idea. "About a month after you left, Edwin started dating this girl named Isabella. Three months after they have been dating, they told me that she was pregnant and that Isabella's parents kicked her out. So Isabella moved in with us. I wanted them to finish high school and go to a university. Everything was fine until one day, about six months after Zachie was born, Isabella's parents told her that she could go back and live with them, but only her. I guess she thought of that as a way out because she jumped at the chance and they moved to Europe somewhere, only leaving Edwin a note, telling him that she left. We haven't heard from her ever since," Casey explained to Derek.

"How come no one ever told me?" he asked.

"I told Lizzie and Marti that it was Edwin's decision to tell you. He never told me if he did or not," Casey said, continuing to make herself a sandwich.

"So how is everyone? Lizzie hasn't-"

"No it hasn't come back. I thank God everyday that it hasn't. I'm glad that it doesn't interfere with her life anymore. She's in third year university, the same as Edwin."

"What about everyone else?"

"Marti is in grade ten in school, she works at the library part-time but she is planning to be a lifeguard when she turns sixteen. Zachie here is eight and a half, as he says."

"What about my dad and Nora?" he asked.

"Mom is still the same and George is in rehab," she said quickly, she hated to talk about it, she usually cried when she did.

Derek nodded. "Well I have to go. It was nice catching up," he said quickly, getting up and leaving.

Casey sighed, staring at the front door that Derek just went through. That conversation was the most awkward thing that she had ever experienced. She shook her head, then grabbed her sandwich and brought it to the dinning room table to bring Zachie some company.

---

Marti walked into the familiar hallway of the hospital. She came here every Sunday. She would go to church as Casey requested, spend some time with her friends, and then go to the hospital. She remembered the first time Casey suggested going to church. Everyone stared at her as if she had two heads. Lizzie had asked her why she would want to turn to a god that would let this happen to our family. Casey responded back that this family was going to need all the help that it can get and if prayer helped, she was going to pray.

At first, Marti just went to church because Casey had made so many sacrifices so she decided that she could make one for her. As they came every week though, she had gotten to know some of the parish and the priest. She liked how the priest could make his sermons funny and still get his point across. She also made some friends with kids her age that were in the parish. Everyone there from old to young knew about the Macdonald/Venturi family and always kept them in their prayers. Marti was always grateful that so many people cared and the more prayers, the better. Marti once asked Casey if the prayers were working or not, she wasn't sure. Casey said that of course the prayers were working. Lizzie was still with them, George woke up, and Nora's brain activity isn't deteriorating as quickly as it was before.

Marti agreed with her when she said that. Casey always looked at the best of the day and used it to the fullest. She never let a day go by without doing something productive. 'There's no time like the present and you never know when the present will leave.' That was Casey's favourite saying. Marti didn't completely understand what she meant but she knew that the saying was very important to Casey, she could see it in her eyes. Marti looked at her watch; she knew she was a couple minutes early. She wanted it that way so that she could talk to Nora privately; maybe find some of her memory about that day. She walked into Nora's hospital room and stopped in her tracks. She couldn't believe who was in the room.

"Derek?" she questioned, walking a bit more into the room.

Derek turned around and smiled. "Smarti," he said walking closer to her to give her a hug. Marti dodged it and walked towards Nora's bed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked bitterly, looking at Nora.

"Smarti don't be like that," Derek said, feeling hurt that Marti didn't want to hug him.

"Don't call me Smarti. Smarti left the same day you did."

"It doesn't have to be like this," Derek said, walking closer. Marti crossed to the other side of the bed to have Nora's body and the bed in between herself and her former idol.

"Yes it does have to be like this. I can't just pretend that you didn't leave and stick Casey to deal with the problems. You didn't care about anyone else but yourself and your dream about running a business someday. Casey had dreams too you know. She wanted to go to York University in Toronto for dance. She wanted to travel the world but she instead switched to Western University and went to teacher's college so she could take care of us. She stayed behind while you abandoned us. You couldn't even share a sliver of the responsibility to even come at Christmas or Easter to see us. No, your flavour of the week is more important to you than your own family. So no, it is like this because of you. Please just go before Casey sees you. She's been in too much pain to see you so just go," Marti said.

Derek nodded, not knowing what else to do. "Good-bye Nora," he said. He then turned to Marti, who now was sitting at the end of Nora's bed. "Good-bye Smarti," he continued. Marti didn't respond. She just stared at Nora. Derek walked away; leaving the hospital, wishing things could be different.

Marti stared at Nora. She reached for her hand and closed her eyes. _"George look out!" Nora screamed as the car swerved._ Marti opened her eyes and ripped her hand out of Nora's. She realized that she was breathing heavily, almost panting. She could go on with months and not remember anything new about that day but then, unexpectedly, a memory will come back to her.

"Oh, you're already here," Lizzie said, walking in with Edwin behind her.

"Ya, I just got here a couple minutes ago," she said as Casey and Zachie came into the room. Casey took out the dead flowers in the vase that was on the nightstand, beside Nora's bed. She then replaced them with tulips. Tulips were Nora's favourite flowers so they made sure that there were always tulips in Nora's room. Edwin and Casey sat down in the chairs beside Nora's bed. Zachie climbed on Edwin's lap as Lizzie sat on the bed. They each took turns in telling Nora about the main points of their week, but both Casey and Marti didn't mention their encounters with Derek.

Reviews are always welcome!


	3. She is so Screwed

disclaimer: I own nothing except the story line

Chapter 3: She is so Screwed 

_**Wake up in the morning,**_

_**Stumble on my life,**_

_**Can't get no love, **_

_**Without sacrifice.**_

"_Casey, the phone's ringing," Derek mumbled, nudging her awake. _

"_Why can't you get it, I got it yesterday," Casey mumbled back._

"_Remember, I'm sick, cough, cough," Derek said, not opening his eyes. "Besides, you're closer," he continued, nudging her again._

"_Fine," Casey said, sitting up in Derek's bed and grabbing the cordless phone that he left on his nightstand after talking to Sam the day before. She caught a glimpse of the time and saw that it was 8:30 in the morning. She wondered who would be calling so early. There friends wouldn't be up yet and their parents knew not to call before nine. "Hello," she said, rubbing her eyes. "Yes this is she… What? Oh my gosh! What happened?… Thank you for calling, my stepbrother and I will be there as soon as possible," Casey said, then clicking the phone off. _

_Derek was now wide awake, wondering who was on the phone that caused Casey to turn pale. He saw a tear roll down her face and he lifted his finger to wipe it away. "Casey, who was that?" he asked. Casey turned away and got out of the bed without answering him._

"_We have to get dressed. Don't worry about showering or eating, we have to leave as quickly as we can," she said, then opening Derek's bedroom door, leaving the room to go to her own. _

_Derek got up quickly and followed her. "Casey what happened?" he demanded. He was getting worried; he had never seen Casey act like this. Casey didn't seem to notice him and grabbed her hairbrush to untangle her hair quickly. Derek clutched her by the shoulders and shook her. "Casey, what happened?" he demanded again, looking into her eyes that were starting to get red and puffy._

"_They got into an accident. They collided into a truck," Casey chocked out._

"_Who? Who collided into a truck?" Derek said quietly, almost afraid to know the answer._

"_Our family. George, mom, Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti."_

_Derek released Casey's shoulders, not believing what he heard. He covered one of his hands over his mouth to muffle the sob that he could not control coming out._

Derek opened his eyes quickly. He sat up and looked at the clock that read 2:54a.m. He sighed, running his hand through his hair. He hated having memory dreams. The memory was always something about Casey or about something that day. He went to the hotel washroom and threw cold water on his face to stop the sweat. He walked back into the bedroom, seeing Faith sitting up in the bed.

"Are you alright?" she asked and Derek nodded.

"Ya, just a really intense dream," he said, getting back into the bed. Faith nodded and lied back down.

"Well, I hope you don't get any more, you had one yesterday too."

"Ya," Derek replied, lying down in the bed, thinking about the dream the night before. That dream was about the memory the day before, when he was proposing to Casey. Derek shook his head and tried to go back to sleep.

---

Casey woke up that morning the same way she did the morning before. She dreamt about the morning of that day when she got the call. Who knew one phone call could change her life so drastically. She hated those dreams and hoped that she wouldn't have anymore.

The morning was the same as every other school day. Lizzie and Edwin left to go take the bus to Western University while Casey drove Marti to the high school that all her older siblings had attended years before. She then drove to Trudeau Public Elementary school, which was where she worked and Zachie attended. She taught grade five there and although she couldn't go around the world dancing, she loved teaching her students and she loved teaching dance after school at Anita's Dance Studio. After she made sure Zachie was safely in the schoolyard, she quickly walked into the school, to one of the grade 3 classrooms.

"Derek's back," Casey said as she walked into the room

"Well, I guess we're going to start with how your weekend went," Mark replied, handing her a coffee cup from one of the local coffee shop.

Casey sat down on top of one of the student's desk and looked at her two friends. Rachel was sitting at her desk, and Mark was standing beside it, both staring at her, waiting for her to continue. She realized that she interrupted their conversation but they didn't seem to care. She met Rachel and Mark at teacher's collage and they all instantly became friends, which made work even better when they all got a job at the same school.

"Wait, which Derek are you talking about? Not the one who left you a month after the crash," Rachel said.

"The one and only," Casey replied, now chugging her coffee, hoping that somehow alcohol will magically appear in it.

Mark gasped. "Start from the beginning," he said, completely pulled in as if he was watching his favourite soap opera.

"Well, I was in the mall Saturday, shopping for some new clothes-" Casey started before she was interrupted.

"Without me? How could you," Mark said, completely disgusted.

"Could you not think about fashion for one second so she can finish her story," Rachel replied, sarcastically.

"Did you find anything that you liked?" he asked Casey, purposely ignoring Rachel.

"A couple things," she said, drinking more of her coffee.

"Can we get back to the story about seeing Derek," Rachel said.

"Right," Casey said. "Well, when I was leaving the mall, I bumped into this girl, well more like collided and we both fell-"

Mark gasped again. "That was you? Someone took a video of it and now it's on youtube."

"Lovely," Casey said. She had to admit that she wasn't surprised, she never had the best of luck. "Anyways, it turns out that Faith, that's the girl's name, is Derek's girlfriend and they are in town for business. Oh and Faith is also his secretary," Casey added.

"Does anyone else know Derek's here?" Rachel asked.

"Well, he came by the house yesterday but only Zachie and I were there, everyone else went their own separate ways after church-"

"And you both gazed into each other's eyes and kissed passionately," Mark said, staring off into the distance.

"You really have to stop reading those Danielle Steel books," Rachel said to him, shaking her head. Then she turned to Casey. "Did you tell anyone?"

Casey looked ashamed. "No I didn't. I should have right, of course I should have. I don't know why but I just couldn't do it. I mean Derek not only left me, he left everyone else and poor Marti was really having a tough time in facing abandonment. What do I do? Should I tell them, should I call Derek and ask him to come over or should I just pretend I never saw him?" Casey asked, opened to any suggestion.

"Well, we all know that it doesn't matter what we say because you always end up doing the right thing," Rachel said.

Casey groaned. "What is the right thing?"

"I think you should just forget about it, if Derek wants to see everyone, he should initiate it, not you, you already do too much for your family," Mark said, just as the bell rang. "Well gotta go, my grade ones will destroy up my classroom if I'm not there," Mark said, gulping the rest of his coffee and walking away.

"I agree with him, you know. Let Derek call, not the other way around," Rachel said. Casey nodded and left the classroom to go to her own.

---

"Miss Macdonald, have you seen my glove, I can't find it," one of Casey's students said to her.

"I'm sure it's out here somewhere, Alice," Casey said walking out into the hallway. "Ah, is this it?" Casey asked moments later, holding a pink glove.

"Ya, thank you Miss Macdonald," Alice said, taking the glove and running to the stairwell to go outside for recess.

Casey smiled and walked back into her classroom and sat down at her desk. She began to start marking the math tests that she had her students do last Friday. This is what she did, she spent her recesses grading assignments, marking tests, or writing down the lesson plan for the next week. She liked to get the work down when she was at school so she could focus on her family at home and her dance at the dance class. She very rarely went to the staffroom. She only went there to eat her lunch in the lunch hour, but the morning and afternoon recesses, she spent in her classroom at her desk, working.

"Casey, Casey are you in there?" Gail, the secretary's voice said on the P.A., filling the room.

"Ya, I'm here Gail," she said, still looking at the test on top of the pile.

"You have a call on line one," Gail said.

"Alright, I'll be down there in a second," Casey said, leaving the classroom. She was a bit surprised. No one ever called her. Her only friends besides Rachel and Mark were Emily and Sam but she kind of drifted apart from them when they went off to other university in different cities when and she stayed at home. Marti, Lizzie, and Edwin were all in school and wouldn't call her unless there was an emergency. Casey began to walk faster towards the office. She was afraid that something horrible happened. She opened the office door quickly and picked up Gail's phone, only greeting Gail with a fake smile.

"Hello?" Casey said, trying to make her voice sound natural.

"Is this Casey Macdonald?" a female voice asked. Casey tried to blink back the tears; this was the first thing the nurse at the hospital asked on that horrible day.

"Yes it is," Casey replied quickly.

"Hi Casey, this is Faith Adam, Derek's girlfriend." Casey relaxed a bit but then tensed up again when she heard Faith utter the words, girlfriend.

"Oh, hello," Casey said politely

"Um, did I catch you at a bad time, I looked up your school on the internet and checked to make sure that I would call during recess," Faith said. Casey could sense how nervous this girl sounded and tried to make her feel more comfortable.

"You couldn't have called at a better time," Casey said, encouraging her.

"Oh, well, I would really love to meet Derek's family, and who knows when there will be another time that we will be in London," Faith started to say. Casey smiled, if it was up to Derek, he would probably never come back. "I was wondering, if maybe, I uh, could take you and your family all out to a restaurant maybe today, my treat of course," Faith continued.

"I have to teach dance this evening, sorry," Casey said a little too quickly.

"Oh," Faith replied. Casey could hear the disappointment in her voice and she sighed.

"Listen, how about you and Derek come over tomorrow, I'll cook dinner and you can meet everyone," Casey said, instantly regretting what she said.

"Really? I would love that, what time?" Faith said, having her perky voice return.

"Is six alright?" Casey asked, desperately trying to act nice. It wasn't that she hated Faith, it's just that she reminder her of everything that she doesn't have anymore.

"It's perfect, we'll be there, see you tomorrow at six," Faith said.

"See you then," Casey said, then hanging up the phone and put her head in her hand.

"Inviting your ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend over for dinner, very classy," Gail said, not even glancing away from her computer screen.

Casey looked at her. "How did you know-"

"Please, the secretary knows everything, plus Mark loves gossip. If you want to keep a secret, don't tell him," Gail said.

Casey groaned. "What do I do?" she asked.

"Hey, I just gossip, I don't give advice, that's why you're closer friends with Mark and Rachel than me, now go, I know you're dying to tell them. You still have three minutes left before the bell rings," Gail said, then picking up the phone. "Trudeau Public Elementary school, how may I help you," she sang into the phone. Casey left the office and walked straight to the staffroom to find Rachel and Mark. She saw them instantly, talking next to the fridge.

"I just invited my ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend over for dinner tomorrow. I'm so screwed," Casey blurted out.

"Ha, pay up," Rachel said to Mark. Mark pulled out his wallet and handed Rachel twenty dollars.

"You bet to see when I would ask for more help?" Casey asked, a bit disgusted.

"No of course not," Mark said. "We bet on for how long it would take you to do something stupid that involved your ex. You couldn't hold out till lunch could you?" Mark continued, shaking his head.

"So you asked Derek and what's-her-name to dinner tomorrow, why?" Rachel asked.

"Faith called and asked to take me and my family out to dinner tonight but I have the second job so I offered to cook and have them come over tomorrow," Casey said.

"I repeat, why. You had an out, why did you push it?" Rachel questioned.

"She seemed so sad that I couldn't go and she really wanted to meet my family and I felt sorry for her," Casey said.

"And that's your problem," Rachel stated.

"What?" Casey questioned.

"You're too nice, why couldn't you say screw you bitch, and hang up the phone?" Rachel replied.

"Oh ya, that's mature," Casey said.

"Of course it is, so what are you gonna do?" Mark questioned.

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you two."

"You could make pasta, everyone loves pasta and it's really easy, my grandmother actually has a spaghetti sauce recipe if you want to use it," Mark said.

"I'm not asking help about the food, although that does sound good, but I haven't told my family that Derek is here," Casey said.

"Well I suggest that you tell them tonight," Rachel said. Casey nodded just as the bell rang; they left the staffroom to go back to their classrooms. Trying to shake off the nerves that she had, Casey started teaching but all she could think about was how would her family react when she told them that she had been keeping Derek from them.

---

Casey was chewing her nails and pacing in her bedroom. She wasn't sure how she was suppose to tell her family that the brother that abandoned them was back in town and was coming over tomorrow.

"Are you okay?" Marti asked, coming into Casey's room.

"Ya, I'm fine, it's just I uh, I have to tell everyone something, could you tell everyone to come into the living room," Casey requested and Marti nodded. Marti called everyone as Casey walked to the living room. She decided that she would take the direct approach, just blurting it out. She was still pacing when everyone came in.

"Can we make this quick, I have to go to work soon," Edwin said and Casey looked at her watch, noticing that she also had to go to work soon.

"Derek's back in town and he and his girlfriend, Faith are coming tomorrow to dinner at six, so no one go out tomorrow," Casey said. She then walked away, leaving everyone stunned.

"I don't want to see Derek," Marti called, making Casey stop half way up the stairs and turn around.

Neither do I, Casey thought, closing her eyes for a second. She then turned around looking at everyone's stunned faces. "We should forgive and forget, and it doesn't matter if you don't want to do that, we are all going to be here tomorrow and welcome Derek and his girlfriend into this house." Even if it kills us, Casey thought the last part. She then turned and walked up the stairs to go back to her room. She felt tears filling her eyes and she didn't want anyone to see her so upset over this. After all, it was only Derek.

Reviews Are Always Welcome!


	4. The Dinner Date From Hell

disclaimer: once again, I own nothing

Chapter 4: The Dinner Date From Hell

_**If anything should happen,**_

_**I guess I wish you well**_

_**Hmm a little bit of heaven,**_

_**With a little bit of hell**_

_Casey and Derek came running into the emergency room, luckily with both their extracurricular activities, they weren't too much out of breath. They were looking around, hoping that they could find someone, anyone who would tell them something. They saw patients and their family members in the waiting room, staring at them. Who wouldn't though. They were both so frantic to get to the hospital that Casey grabbed the first thing that she saw in her closet, which was a green shirt and bright red jogging pants, she looked like Christmas threw up. Derek didn't even look in his closet, he just put on the clothes that he found on his floor, he had no idea how dirty they were, but they were probably really dirty because the brown shirt had wrinkles, and dust everywhere, and there were black spots all over the jeans._

"_Where do we go?" Derek asked, turning around in circles. Casey then pointed to a front desk that they somehow didn't see in the first place. They both ran to the desk, startling the nurse who was behind it._

"_Macdonald-Venturi," Casey said quickly. The nurse nodded, seeing the frighten expression on both teenager's faces. She was actually waiting for them. She was the one who called them._

"_Follow me," she said, "You will be in a private waiting room, a doctor will be notified that you're here and come as soon as they can," the nurse continued, leading them into the small, dingy, gloomy room. There were a couple chairs against the wall for people to sit but that was it. Derek looked at Casey when the nurse closed the door, he saw her even more frightened, as if she knew something horrible that he didn't._

"_Casey-" he started to say slowly but was interrupted by her._

"_They put us in a private waiting room, this isn't good," she rambled, sitting on one of the chairs, and putting her head in her hands._

"_Why?" Derek asked; it always amazed him how much she knew about the world and how little he did._

"_They only put the families of the patients in a private room if it is a horrible situation. My aunt was put into one of these rooms when her husband fell from a tree and slipped into a coma," Casey said, not lifting her head to look at Derek._

"_What happened to her husband?" he asked, now curious about the story, if he lived, that would at least give him a little bit of hope._

"_He died on the table," she said, in a matter-of-fact voice._

"_Oh God," Derek said, leaning his head back, against the wall, and closing his eyes. A second later, a doctor walked in, holding a folder. Casey and Derek both jumped out of their seats immediately and walked over to the doctor._

"_Hello, I'm Dr. Sheppard," he said, holding out his hand for them to shake, he was young, he looked like an intern extra from "Grey's Anatomy"._

"_Derek Venturi and this is my stepsister, Casey Macdonald," Derek said as they shook hands._

"_Before I start, I'm so sorry for what happened-"_

"_Can you just save us the suspense and tell us if our family is alive," Casey said bitterly. Derek gave her a glance, trying to tell her to let the doctor speak._

_Dr. Sheppard nodded; he didn't seem too fazed by Casey's outburst. "Of course. All of your family members are still alive. George Venturi and Nora Macdonald-Venturi are still in major surgery. Edwin Venturi and Elizabeth Macdonald are being tested for concussions, broken bones, etc. so you won't be able to speak with them at the moment. You can talk to Marissa Venturi, but I must warn you before I take you to her. She seems to have a slight memory loss. She can't remember anything past her buckling her seatbelt and Mr. Venturi starting the engine. It's possible that in the state of shock, her mind has reset to before the accident. She doesn't remember the accident or coming to the hospital, she only knows what we've told her, which is very little since she is only nine. You can tell her about the accident if you like, that is your decision. Would you like to see her now?" Dr. Sheppard said. During his explanation, neither Derek nor Casey said anything, both trying to wrap their heads around everything that has happened. "Would you like to see Marissa Venturi?" he asked again._

"_Marti, her name is Marti," Casey said, "and yes, we want to see her," she continued. The doctor nodded and led them to the room where Marti was waiting patiently for them._

Casey opened her eyes quickly, hearing her alarm clock beep. She automatically groaned, not because of how early she was getting up, but because of the dream. She didn't know why she was dreaming about that day but she wanted it to stop. It was as if she was reliving that day in her dreams. She then groaned again when she realized that today was the day that Derek and his girlfriend, Faith, were coming over.

She got up and after she got ready, she left her room, walking towards the kitchen. Once she reached there, she saw everyone eating, except Marti.

"Where's Marti?" Casey asked. Everyone looked up, as if they hadn't noticed that Marti's present wasn't there, they were not morning people.

"I think she's still in her room," Zachie said, trying to dip his action figure into his cereal but Edwin quickly grabbed it and put it on the table.

Casey nodded and went upstairs, thinking that Marti must have overslept. She knocked on Marti's door, not hearing an answer; she slowly walked in, assuming that she must have slept through her alarm clock. She was shocked when she saw that Marti wasn't in the room and her bed was made, without a wrinkle in sight. She walked to the washroom, seeing the door open and no Marti in there. She checked every room on that floor, leaving the one that she dreaded to go into for last, Derek's.

Casey sighed and opened the door slowly, seeing Marti on Derek's bed, staring at the ceiling as Derek did many times. The room looked as if Derek had never left. People have asked her why she kept it that way, instead of letting Edwin take the room so that he and Zachie could have their own separate rooms. Casey couldn't do that, for one thing, Edwin would have never agreed to that, no one stepped into that room unless it was an absolute must and Casey just couldn't bring herself to change anything. Deep, deep down she still wished that he would come back. Everyone in that family did, with the exception of Zachie since he didn't know Derek existed till a few days ago. Everyone wanted him to come back, especially when George started having a drinking problem and lost his licence to practice being a lawyer.

She found it was funny how everyone, including herself, thought, that Derek would be able to fix everything. How would he be able to fix everything? She guessed that everyone just longed for having the whole family together, no matter how much they tried to hide it. Casey inhaled and closed her eyes. She could still smell his cologne that he insisted the ladies loved, but no one really did. That stuff was so strong that he would spray it in the air and walk through it to not get too much of it on him. It didn't surprise her that much when, even after all these years, she could still smell it.

Her gaze then drifted to Marti, still not analogizing her presences in the room. Casey took a small step into the room, about to say something to break the deafening silence that was occupying the space but Marti beat her to it.

"Do you really think he's coming today?" Marti asked her, talking about the dinner party that was going to happen that evening.

"Yes, I believe he's coming," Casey said, still staying where she was, she didn't dare to come any closer, it hurt to much to be in that room.

"But not to see us, he's only coming because what's-her-face wants to meet us," Marti replied.

"Her name is Faith and I think, deep, deep, down, he has always wanted to see us, he was just too scared to do so."

"Whatever," Marti said, getting off his bed and walking out of the room. Casey smiled a bit, even though it hurt to be in that room, she still liked to be reminded that some things are normal, like Marti's favourite word being 'whatever' since she turned that magic number of thirteen.

---

Casey was scrambling around the kitchen, trying to get everything ready. She had taken Mark up on his offer with his grandmother's recipe and was now stirring it so it wouldn't burn. Not only was she making pasta, she also made Caesar salad and garlic bread. For dessert, she planed to have fresh fruits in case someone didn't want the Rocky Road ice cream that Zachie had picked out at the store. She thought it was funny that Zachie loved Rocky Road, that's Derek's favourite ice cream too. It amazed her how sometimes Derek could pop up in Zachie.

She glanced out of the kitchen, and into the living room, seeing Zachie and Marti watching t.v., both waiting for the guests to arrive. Lizzie and Edwin were upstairs in their rooms, trying to do as much homework as they could before Derek and Faith came. Lizzie asked Casey if she wanted help with cooking but she said no, she had everything under control, and besides, Lizzie needed the extra time to work on her homework, she was going to lose a couple of hours of studying tonight.

She had just placed the last piece of food on the table when the doorbell rang, promptly at six o'clock. Casey couldn't help but roll her eyes. Faith must be a very punctual woman, as she was but everyone knows to always come a little later to have dinner at someone's house to give the hosts time to run and pretend they aren't home. Obviously, Faith did not get this secret message of the sisterhood of women kind.

"Somebody get that please," Casey said, running back into the kitchen to get the huge spoon and fork for the salad that seemed to once again, be missing. Neither Marti nor Zachie got up to move. Zachie didn't get up because he was too engross into the t.v. to hear anything around him and Marti didn't really want to get it. "Marti please get it," Casey shouted. Marti sighed and got up to answer the door.

"Somebody get that please." Derek and Faith heard through the front door. That house really needed a new door; anyone could hear everything through that door.

"This is a bad idea," Derek whispered to Faith for the millionth time that day.

"Why would it be a bad idea? Casey sounded grateful on the phone. She was the one that suggested on having the get together here," Faith said back at him. She didn't understand completely why Derek didn't want to come. She knew that he hadn't spoken to his family for six years, he said that they grew apart. She knew his father was in rehab for alcohol and that his family didn't want him to go to Alberta to make a business. She thought that was pretty selfish of them but wondered if maybe she could help let by gones be by gones.

"It's just going to be one huge awkward night," Derek whispered back, just before the door opened. They both looked down at the fifteen year old that looked as bored as hell.

"Hello, you must be Marti, I'm Faith," Faith said friendly smiling and bending down to be at Marti's eye level which took a lot of effort, Marti wasn't a tall teenager. Marti just nodded and walked away, leaving the door open for them to walk in. If it was up to her, she would have slammed the doors in their faces but apparently, to Casey, that would be mean and immature.

"Welcome to hell," Derek said, stepping in first, followed by Faith. When they walked in, they could smell the sauce that filled the whole house. Derek took off his coat and put it on the coat rack, he then held out his hands, waiting for Faith to give him her's.

Faith shut the front door, and then handed her coat to Derek. She looked around the house, trying to memorize everything. This was where her boyfriend spent all of his eighteen years, living in this house. She was immediately curious about the place. She was looking for things that Derek had mentioned and realized that it was everything he said it would be. There was his recliner that he loved, in all of it's ugly glory. There were pictures on the wall, showing everyone that lived in that house. The walls were even the same colour that he said they were. She asked him once if he had any pictures of his family, he said that he had one. The picture was taken on his graduation day. He and Casey were in their robes and surrounded by the family, the younger kids in the front with the parents on each side of the graduates. Faith saw that same picture on the wall and smiled. She knew that there must be some room in this family for Derek to fit back in, if not, why were there be pictures of him everywhere. What she didn't realize was that in each picture he was in, there were other people too, and Casey didn't want to take any of them down, for when Nora wakes up, she would see that nothing has changed unless it had too.

Faith stopped looking around when Casey came out of the kitchen. She was wearing a pink shirt and a black skirt, with an apron over top. Casey quickly took off the apron when she realized she was still wearing it and held it in her hand. She smiled her fake smile at both of them, trying to hide her discomfort.

"Hello again, it's nice to know that we can meet without colliding into each other," Casey said to Faith, she didn't even glance once at Derek. "Uh, I'm sorry about leaving you out there for so long. I was busy with the food, Lizzie and Edwin are still upstairs finishing their homework and when that t.v. is on, I swear Marti and Zachie go into a zone where they can't hear anything besides the t.v., speaking of which," Casey said, grabbing the remote and turning off the t.v. This led to groans from both Zachie and Marti. "Go wash your hands, dinner's ready and while you're up there, tell Lizzie and Edwin," Casey instructed. Both of them got up and went up the stairs, leaving Casey, Derek and Faith in an awkward silence.

"Oh," Faith said, breaking the silence, "I brought cookies for dessert but I must have left them in the car."

"I'll go get them," Derek said quickly, but Faith wanted Casey and Derek to talk, if they made up, she figured everyone else would let him back into the family too. She sensed Casey being the leader of the family clan

"No, I'll get it," Faith said quickly, running out of the house without her jacket. Casey and Derek weren't alone for a second longer after that because everyone came down the stairs, all having the same 'I hate you' face for Derek, with the exception of Zachie. Faith then came back into the house, holding the box of cookies.

"Oh, uh Faith, this is Edwin and Lizzie," Casey introduced. Faith stuck out her free hand to shake but neither Edwin nor Lizzie made a move to touch it. Casey cleared her throat, "I'll show you where the fridge is," she said, trying to remain polite. Faith nodded, bringing her hand back to her side and followed Casey into the kitchen.

Marti, Edwin, Lizzie, and Zachie all sat down in their seats. Derek noticed that his three younger siblings all sat in the same spot they sat at six years ago, with the exception of Zachie sitting in between Edwin and Marti. He noticed that his seat wasn't taken and wondered if anyone ever sat there. He walked over to his seat and sat down slowly, no one said anything, all looking down at their plates. Even Zachie was because he was playing with his action figure, but Edwin soon whispered something to him and he nodded, getting up and putting his toy on George's desk. He sat back down just as Casey and Faith walked into the room.

Casey sat down in her spot, beside Lizzie, across from Derek, forgetting that Faith was there, not knowing where to sit. Faith then walked to the seat closest to the kitchen, which was where George would sit if he wasn't in rehab. She pulled the chair out and was about to sit when Zachie shouted.

"Don't!" he cried. Everyone looked at him. "That's where poppy George sits, you can't sit there," Zachie said. No one said anything to correct him; they knew that he didn't like people sitting in other's spots. Faith nodded and crossed the table to Nora's seat. Everyone's eyes bulged out, including Derek's.

"No!" Faith heard a voice say just when she was about to sit down. This time it wasn't Zachie who shouted it but Marti. "You can't sit there, if you do, it's like saying Nora won't come back," Marti said, trying to explain it to Faith, she assumed she knew what happened to Nora. Faith nodded, again but felt awkward, as if she entered a dangerous zone.

"Why don't you sit beside Lizzie," Casey offered kindly. Faith smiled and walked over and sat beside Lizzie, and that was more or less the last words that anyone said during dinner.

---

Faith tried her best; she really did to bring a conversation alive during dinner. She asked about how old everyone was, what was Lizzie's and Edwin's majors, what was Marti's favourite subject, things like that but all she was getting was one-word answers and that was it. The only person who really talked to her was Zachie and she felt that Zachie was her favourite of Derek's family. They all didn't seem much alive in the world. They all seemed to hate Derek, which made Faith not like them very much. Who were they to judge him, he just followed his dream and they should have supported him, unfortunately for her, she didn't know the full story.

Casey started clearing the plates and bowls off the table. They had just finished eating dessert. She couldn't help but relax a bit, after all Derek and Faith were sure to leave soon since they finished eating. When she walked back into the dinning room, she found out she couldn't be more wrong. Out of nowhere, Zachie came down the stairs with a board game and placed it on the table.

"Can we please, please play this," Zachie asked everyone at the table. Faith said yes quickly before Derek could say that they should be leaving and everyone else reluctantly agreed because what could they say to Zachie. Damn kid, Casey thought. He seemed to have this firm grasp with everyone to get what he wanted most of the time.

They began playing the game but the only two people who were really enjoying themselves were Faith and Zachie. Everyone else just wanted Derek to leave, finally that wish was granted with a cell phone ring. Derek reached into his pocket to answer it quickly, but not quick enough. Casey recognized the song; it was their song. The song that they both agreed it would be their song. She sometimes cried when she heard it, but this time she was more angry then sad. Derek stood up, excusing himself then walked outside to take the phone call.

"Hello," Derek said once he was outside and the front door shut. It was something for work, apparently they wanted to ask something that went on in the meeting that day and couldn't wait for tomorrow. It was a short call but when Derek hung up the phone, he couldn't bring himself to walk back inside. He sighed knowing that he would get sick if he stayed out here and turned to go back inside but jumped away from the door quickly when he turned around.

"What the hell!" he said, he was staring at Casey, clutching her sweater because she didn't grab her coat.

"So was that 'the call'?" she asked, bending her two fingers as air quotations when she said the call.

"What?" Derek asked her.

"You know the call for you to go back inside and tell Faith that you had to go because of some work emergency. Jeeze Derek, why did you even get Faith to call me if you didn't want to come?" she demanded.

"First off, that wasn't 'the call' and secondly, I didn't ask her to call, she called you on her own."

"Of course she did, I can't believe for even one second that I thought that maybe, just maybe you wanted to see the family that you haven't seen in 6 years, but no, I was wrong. Your girlfriend is trying harder than you!" she said, throwing her hands up in the air and getting hysterical.

"Hey I've been trying! It took a lot of guts for me to come on Sunday and today! And I do care; these stupid dreams have been bugging me about that day!" Derek shouted, equally hysterical. "And what did you do to everyone! None of them will even look at me, and Marti, Marti yelled at me! What did you say to them when I left?" Derek shouted.

"What did I say to them? I told them the truth, that you left and probably never coming back. I sugar coated it as much as I could but it was kind of hard. They have a right to ignore you and when did Marti yell at you?" Casey shouted back.

"At the hospital on Sunday and you did something more to them, that family loved me when I left and now-"

Casey cut him off, too pulled into the argument to even wonder why Marti didn't tell her that she saw him. "And now they hate you. Of course they do, because it hurts too much to love someone who abandoned them. It hurts too much to talk to them or even think about them. It hurts too much to love someone who doesn't love them back!" Casey said, now with tears rolling down on her cheeks. "It hurts too much when something can remind you of that someone but they don't seem to remember or care about it," she said, finishing her speech.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her, referring to the last part.

"Your ring tone, I asked Faith about it and she said that it was yours and her's song but I remember clearly that it was our song at one point," she said.

Derek stared at her, shocked. "Casey we broke up, I think that counts as 'our song,'" he said, using air quotations, "to not be our song anymore. Who cares if I liked it enough to use it with another girlfriend?" he said, oblivious to her feelings.

She nodded, wiping her tears off her cheeks and onto her sweater. "Your right, you should use it, it's just a song and our song has changed, it's called Happy Ending, look it up," she said, opening the front door and walking in, where she saw her family and Faith all jumping away from the window, clearly watching the feuding. They weren't the only ones watching though, the neighbours had too, all knowing the history between Casey and Derek.

Faith didn't know what to make of the scene. Casey mentioned their song, but if they had a song, that would mean that they were a couple at one point. If they were, what made them break up? Faith wondered. Many questions were spinning around in her head but one stuck out the most. Why had Derek lied to her? There was clearly more to the story then just a family disapproving the eldest child of his dream. Faith walked over to the coat rack, grabbing Derek's and her coat, she thanked Casey for having them over and left.

Casey stared at her family. She knew that they heard everything, all of them knowing exactly how she felt and why, with the exception of Zachie. No one said anything, waiting for Casey to say the first words.

"Well, I think we should clean up," she said, walking towards the kitchen. No one said anything, all knowing that she clearly did not want to talk about it.

---

"So were you ever going to tell me?" Faith said once Derek started the car and drove away from the house.

"Tell you what?" Derek asked, knowing exactly what but hoping that Faith was too afraid to confront him.

"About you and Casey, how you two were a 'thing' at some point. Is that why you moved all the way to Alberta? Because you and Casey broke up, or should I say you dumped her, she is still clearly in love with you." Apparently, Faith was too much annoyed with Derek not telling her the truth than being afraid.

"She isn't still in love with me," Derek said, not too convincingly.

"Oh, so her yelling at how much it hurt to love someone that doesn't love her back was just nothing right."

"Right," Derek said.

"So you don't love her," Faith asked, she didn't want to be in a relationship with someone who was in love someone else.

"No, I love you," Derek said as they drove. Faith nodded, feeling relieved that Casey was just a psycho that was in love with her stepbrother who wasn't in love with her.

What Faith didn't know was if Derek believed that he wasn't in love with Casey. He had been thinking it over in his head. He moved to Alberta because he thought it was far enough away from Casey. It took him months to get over her, to stop thinking about her every waking hour of the day. He still thought about her at least once a day. This was the reason why he didn't want to come to London but his partner couldn't go because it was his child's birthday that week. So Derek came and he now more then ever regretted it. He realized that he missed his family and that he never got over Casey and that was why he had that ring tone. He didn't want to change it so he made it his and Faith's song so she wouldn't get suspicious of the girly song. So, as they walked into the hotel room, he wished that Faith wasn't the one that he was going to lie beside in the bed tonight, but Casey.

Reviews are Always Welcome!


	5. Confrontation

a/n: sorry it took so long, stupid school, I'll try and update faster.

disclaimer: I own nothing, what a shock.

Chapter 5: Confrontation

_**This is the hardest story,  
That I've ever told,  
No hope or love or glory,  
**__**Happy endings, g**__**one for ever more**_

_Casey and Derek braced themselves as they walked into the room. They saw Marti sitting on the table in the room. She immediately brightened when she saw Casey and especially Derek. She leaped off the table and grabbed both of them into a group hug. _

"_Hey Smarti, I'm so glad that you are alright," Derek said._

"_Smerek it's horrible, I can't remember. I remember getting into the car, Nora said goodbye to Aunt Fiona and then got into the car. Daddy started the car and we were coming back home. The next thing I know, I'm in this room and__ someone is asking me questions. I'm scared, why can't I remember," Marti said. She was so scared that she was separated from her family. She didn't cry though, she was too occupied to cry but now that Casey and Derek were here, she knew that they were going to take care of everything and that's when she allowed herself to cry._

"_It'__s okay, everything is going to be alright," Derek said, pulling Marti into another hug. Casey tried blinking back the tears that stung her eyes. She wondered what she would have done if Derek wasn't with her, if Derek left. She knew she wouldn't be able to go on without him, not after this. She was so happy that even though he didn't know that everything was going to be alright, he still made it seem that way._

"_Derek what happened? They won't tell me anything, where's daddy, Nora, Edwin, and Lizzie?" Marti asked. Derek didn't know what do say so Casey decided to at least help a little bit, after all, Derek was doing all the work._

"_Marti, you were in a car accident. We don't know how bad everyone is, they__'re still doing tests," Casey said. Marti nodded, she was glad that Casey gave her the straight answer, she hated how everyone always treated her as a baby since she was the youngest. Marti didn't get a chance to respond though because her doctor walked into the room._

"_Oh you must be Marti's family. I'm Dr. Gomery," the woman said._

"_Hello__, I'm Casey and this is my stepbrother Derek," Casey said as they shook hands._

"_Alright__, I'm sure you want to know about Marti's condition," Dr. Gomery said once they were through with introductions. "Marti seems to suffer from temporary memory loss, caused by the shock of the collision-"_

"_Will she get it back, her memory__, I mean," Derek asked._

"_That__'s hard to say, it could come to her or she may never get it back. I think though there is a very good possibility that she will get it back, she can already remember the conversation that her two older siblings were in when they left their destination, she couldn't do that a half hour ago." Her pager then went off and she smiled._

"_T__hat was Edwin Venturi's doctor; his tests are done so you can see him. Everything is fine; he luckily is walking away with just a few scratches. You can take Marti, she doesn't seem to be suffering anything else besides the temporary memory loss which I can do nothing for. She will either get it back on her own or not at all. Would you like me to take you to Edwin Venturi's room?" _

_They all nodded. Dr. Gomery turned and walked through the doors, Casey followed her. Marti grabbed Derek's hand, something that she told him that she was too old to do about a month ago. She started walking, pulling him along, which wasn't hard because he just wanted to know that everyone was alright and get out of the hospital. _

Casey didn't jolt awake when her alarm clock went off, bringing her out of her dream world. She expected that she would have another dream, it seemed like she was going to relive that day until her subconscious wanted to stop. She figured it wasn't going to be anytime soon since she felt so guilty. She knew she shouldn't have yelled at Derek, losing control of the situation.

As much as it hurt her to see Derek, she knew it hurt her family even more to know that they weren't going to see him again. No matter how hard they tried to hide it, she saw it. They wanted to see Derek; they wanted to repair the unique broken bond that they once had with him. The bond Lizzie had when talking to Derek, being the perfect tomboy, giving Derek a run for his money in sports. The bond Edwin had when wanting advice and knowledge about the female mind, hoping that Derek would have the answer, and Marti, who was and always will be Derek's Smarti. She brought out the best in him, showed his vulnerability, showed Casey how much she truly loved him.

She knew that they were all trying to be strong, pretending that they never wanted to see him again, for her sake. She knew it was a huge lie but the truth was she didn't want to fix it. She was tired of fixing things, she wanted someone else to fix it but she knew Derek and Faith were certainly not going to call anytime soon, not after yesterday. Now Casey had to make the choice, whether to fix the situation, for the sake of her family or to be selfish and not do anything.

"There you are, jeeze don't you think you get enough exercise, why are you in here pacing?" Mark said to Casey, coming into her classroom with Rachel behind him.

They always met in Rachel's classroom, mostly because it was the closest one to the front entrance of the school. This was why Mark and Rachel came looking for Casey. She always met with them, except when she was sick but she always called at least one of them so that they would know not to buy her coffee. They began to worry when she didn't show up at the time that she always did. She always came around the same time everyday because she drove Marti to school first.

"What are you doing in here?" Rachel asked, but Casey didn't seem to hear them, she was still pacing the length of the classroom.

"Hello, earth to Casey!" Mark said, waving a hand in front of her face but she didn't seem to notice. "Look there's Derek!" he said, making Casey look up, hearing the name Derek. She looked at her two friends, both giving her the what-the-hell look.

"When did you guys get here?" she asked, immediately grabbing a coffee cup.

"We should be asking you that question, how did the dinner go?" Rachel asked. Casey rolled her eyes. "That bad," Rachel said, sucking in some air, afraid that Casey was going to tell them that she finally broke and killed her stepbrother.

"Well, what part do you think is worse? My family giving Derek the cold shoulder, and also his girlfriend, or the part where I basically told Derek that I still loved him, with his girlfriend hearing me say it or how about the part when I realized that my family wants to see Derek again, just too afraid to tell me," Casey said, beginning to pace again.

"Wow, that is bad," Mark said, grabbing his wallet and handing money to Rachel.

Casey looked at both of them and rolled her eyes. "Now what did you two bet on?" she asked.

"Whether you would yell at Derek or Faith," Mark said. "I can't believe you yelled at Derek instead of Faith, she's the one who has your man," Mark continued.

"He's not my man," Casey denied, rolling her eyes.

"Not now," he muttered under his breath.

"So what are you going to do?" Rachel questioned.

"I don't know, should I tell Derek to see Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti or should I just be selfish and not do anything?" Casey asked.

"Well, we know what you want to do; the question is what will you do?" Rachel said. Casey glared at her, Rachel's father was a therapist and it was surprising that Rachel didn't follow in his footsteps, she totally had that therapist voice. Just then the bell rang, breaking the conversation but before Rachel and Mark left, Casey called out to them, more to convince herself then them.

"I'm not going to fix it, not this time. I can't do it anymore," she said. Mark and Rachel nodded, not saying anything because they knew it was no use, instead when they stepped out into the hallway, they placed bets for how long it will take Casey to fix things.

---

"Are we going to see Faith and Derek again?" Zachie asked Casey as they drove home.

"Did you like them?" Casey asked him back, trying to work her way around the question.

"Ya!" he said, all excited.

Casey looked at him; she remembered when she was his age, always saw the world at its best. She pitied him a bit, soon he was going to watch the news, read the paper and realize the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows and soon he was going to learn why he doesn't have a mommy. Casey got good in lying though, she learned how to do it when Derek left, claiming that she was fine and she perfected it when Zachie asked why he didn't have a mommy like everyone else in his class.

"Are we going to see them again?" he asked her.

"Maybe," Casey said, okay, so she was lying, it was a no but she wasn't going to tell him that or he would start to ask questions.

"That's a no isn't it," Zachie replied.

"It's a maybe," Casey said back, turning into the driveway and shutting off the engine. Zachie slumped in the back seat, obviously pouting. "Don't be like that, everything happens for a reason," Casey said. Zachie still looked angry and ran out of the car, hiding behind a tree. "Zachie," she called, getting out of the car and following him, she needed to bring him inside so that she could make dinner then get to her second job, teaching dance.

As she went to the tree though, she didn't see him behind it and before she could turn around she felt something cold hit the back of her neck. She realized that it was a snowball. She turned around and saw Zachie, smiling triumphantly.

"Oh you little," she said, grabbing snow of her own and throwing it at him.

Soon Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti came out and all five of them were throwing snowballs at each other. Once they stopped, all of them too tired to throw any more snow, all panting and laughing Casey realized something. That in better or worse, this was her family and she should try her best to give them everything they needed and they needed Derek, no matter how much they tried to deny it. They needed him. Casey stood up and looked at them.

"Damn it," she muttered. All of them looked at her questioningly. "Can you guys handle dinner on your own, I have to go make a stop somewhere before I go to work," Casey said to them.

They nodded still a bit confused. Casey ran into the house, to get her bag that had her dance clothes, dance shoes and cds then got back into her car and drove. She knew where she was going, Faith had told them where she and Derek were working for the week yesterday, trying to bring up a conversation.

She parked and went into the building without stopping. She knew if she stopped, she would think too much about the situation and not want to go through with it. She took the elevator to the fifth floor and asked someone where Derek Venturi was. They pointed to an office and said that he just got out of a meeting and he was in there. Casey thanked the person, walked to the closed door and knocked. She heard Derek inside say come in and she barged in and started talking before Derek could register what happened.

"You can't do this anymore," she said, leaning over his desk, pointing her finger in his face.

"Do what? Work?" he asked.

"Let me finish," she said not moving her body. "You can't just pretend that you don't have a family because newsflash Derek, you do and they miss you so much. They want to see you; they just don't know it yet. So you are going to take them out tomorrow, somewhere, anywhere. Take them to dinner and a movie, show them your business world, I don't care, just see them," Casey said. "Come to the house at five, don't be late."

She then stopped talking, stood upright, fixed her clothes then walked out of the office. She heard Derek call after her and she moved from her brisk walk to a slight jog. She saw the elevator and pressed the button, praying that she didn't have to talk to Derek. The doors opened and she walked in, pressing the button to close the elevator doors but she wasn't quick enough, Derek slid in just as the doors were closing.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore," Casey said, turning her body to face the wall.

"So what, you barge into my office, giving me instructions, demanding that I follow them and then leave without letting me say anything!" Derek yelled, getting hysterical.

"I didn't barge in, I knocked and you did say something," she said, getting equally hysterical. "And I have never asked anything from you these past 6 years. Now when I ask you to do this one thing, for _our _family, you have the nerve to say that I'm demanding. Just come tomorrow and take them somewhere, at least try and repair the relationships that you have destroyed," she said. Then the doors opened and she stepped out. "See you tomorrow Derek," she said, as the doors closed, no allowing Derek to respond.

Derek sighed, leaning his head against the elevator wall as it went back up. He was glad that Casey demanded him to take his family out, he desperately wanted things to go back to normal, but then again what was normal anymore? He wasn't sure. He lifted his head when the elevator dinged. He walked out and was immediately ambushed by Faith with questions.

"I heard that Casey came, what was she doing here? She didn't yell at you did she? Do you want me to call security and make sure she can't come in again?" Faith asked, one question after another, not allowing him to speak. "Derek?" she asked but he didn't respond, he was looking out into space instead of facing her. "Derek what was Casey doing here?" she asked again. Derek turned to her, as if hearing her for the first time.

"I forgot my scarf and she was just returning it," Derek lied. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to tell his girlfriend about the conversation he and Casey had. He didn't want her to know. Derek started walking away from Faith and towards his office. He shut his door once he was inside. He couldn't help but smile, for some reason he felt like everything was going to be fixed, that for once everything would return back to normal.

Faith stayed where she was, mouth dropped, shocked at the scene she just saw. Derek openly lied to her, and not because he was embarrassed about his past. He promised her no more secrets and yet here he was, about six hours later, keeping something from her. She had a funny feeling that it involved Casey and wasn't sure what to do. She was not the kind of girl that was dumped for another girl, she was usually the girl guys dumped their girlfriends for, every since high school. She was the head cheerleader, dating the hockey star, then in university, she dated a professor (who was married) but that was just a small detail. Then she got a job as an assistant and was now dating her boss who she planned to marry. She was going to get Derek to the chapel, and no one was going to stand in her way, not even martyr Casey.

---

Casey walked back into her house after work. Zachie was already asleep, Marti was watching t.v., and Edwin and Lizzie were still doing homework. Casey looked at Marti, watching one of her favorite shows; she wasn't sure which one though. Marti was able to watch so many shows because all she had was school and a part-time job. Casey wished that she could watch t.v. sometimes but when she did, she usually felt guilty that she wasn't doing something productive and stopped watching it.

"How was work?" Marti asked her, looking away from the t.v., obviously commercial.

"It was good, how was yours?" Casey asked back, shrugging off her jacket and taking off her shoes.

"It was fine, hey, where did you go before you went to work?" she asked.

"I went to see Derek, he's coming to take all of you out tomorrow," Casey said matter of factly, walking up the stairs to her room. Marti followed her, completely dumbfounded at what Casey just said.

"What do you mean you went to go see Derek?" Marti cried, causing Edwin and Lizzie to come out of their rooms.

"I drove to where he worked and saw him," Casey said slowly.

"You went to go see Derek? Why?" Edwin asked.

"Apparently he is taking us out tomorrow, Casey made a play date for us," Marti said.

"Why?" Lizzie asked. Edwin and Lizzie were too shocked to be angry but Marti wasn't, she was angry at Casey. She didn't want to see Derek, he was a jerk in her books.

"Ya, why?" Marti asked.

"Because you guys should have an older brother, even if it's one that you hate, now if you excuse me, I'm going to bed because it's late," Casey said walking into her room and shutting the door.

"This isn't over! I'm going to make him the most miserable man tomorrow!" Marti shouted.

"Good," Casey called through the door. Marti groaned and walked back downstairs as the middle children stared at each other.

"I believe this calls for observation," Edwin said to Lizzie.

"Don't you mean spying, and jeeze Edwin, you're an adult and a parent, act like one," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"So are you in?" he asked.

Lizzie sighed. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Ya, well are you?" he asked again.

"Ya, I'm in," she said, following Edwin into his room to go and try to find that binder that they used for research years ago.

Reviews are always welcome!


	6. Unbelievably Complicated

disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 6: Unbelievably Complicated 

_**I, feel as if I'm wasting,**_

_**And I, wasted every day.**_

_Casey, Derek and Marti all walked into Edwin's room. Marti was between Derek and Casey,__ holding their hands in hers. She was worried, even though she was only nine; she knew what was going on, what happened and what could happen. She felt safe though, holding Derek's hand, he always knew what to do. _

_As they walked in, Edwin immediately stood up and ran to them, he wasn't one for hugs, being a male fifteen year old but he had to hug them. He __was so worried since no one would tell him anything about his family members. He grabbed his family into a group hug and wouldn't let go for a while. _

_Once he let go, Casey got a good look at him. The doctor was right; he was walking away from this terrible accident with only scratches. The only thing that was showing that Edwin had hurt himself was a cut above his left eye that wasn't deep enough for stitches. Casey guessed that he must __have hit his head on the window, which explained why he had a full examination. _

"_You took long enough," Edwin said, joking with them. Derek smiled a ruffled his hair._

"_Ya well you should have known not to get into an accident before noon," Derek joked back. All of the siblings __smiled a bit, unable to laugh. Casey then asked a question that was bugging her since she stepped into the room._

"_Do you know anything about mom, George or Lizzie?" She asked __Edwin and he shook his head._

"_They won't tell me anything, they said that they were waiting for you but I don't get it, Lizzie wasn't that badly hurt, I saw her __on a stretcher, and a doctor saying that they needed to do more tests, maybe it's just a precaution," Edwin said and Casey nodded her head trying to blink back the tears. Derek was going to try to say something comforting but didn't have the chance because Dr. Sheppard walked into the room. _

"_Hello again," he said as everyon__e stared at him. He stared back, telling himself that it is easier for the family to hear bad news if he gave eye contact. He had to use all of his strength to keep eye contact with Casey. He hated having to do this but he was doing what he was told to do. He sighed and decided to just say what he was told to say, the sooner he started, the sooner it would end._

"_How's everyone?" Casey asked before he could speak._

"_No updates with George Venturi or Nora Macdonald-Venturi."_

"_And Lizzie, how's Lizzie doing?" Casey asked and __Dr. Sheppard dropped his gaze, unable to look at her. He pretended to look at his file as if reading the question that he had memorized._

"_Does your family have any__ history of cancer?" he asked, shocking Casey. Casey shook her head, not understanding why he was asking her this._

"_No__, we Macdonalds have always been healthy, why?" she asked him. Dr. Sheppard couldn't look at any of them, keeping his gaze on the piece of paper, he was mentally talking himself into saying what he had to say._

"_Well while we were doing the tests on Elizabeth Macdonald, checking for concussions, internal bleeding,__ etc., when we found, well uh…"_

"_Found what, just say it. I won't believe it until you say it," Casey said, feeling Derek grab her hand and squeezing __it, giving her enough strength to not break down then and there. _

_Dr. Sheppard look directly into Casey's eyes, knowing that he had to say it, this was his job. "There's was a possibility that we found cancer and we did more tests and well, it seems she has lung cancer, we caught it early, and there is a very good chance that she will survive. We will start her on chemotherapy immediately, except she needs a parent or guardian to sign the forms," he said._

_Casey nodded, not really paying attention to the doctor anymore. All she thought was that Lizzie will beat this, she has too, she can't die this young. She has to live life._

"_Casey, I'll call your father, you just go see Lizzie," Derek said gently. Case__y looked at him, apparently Dr. Sheppard was going to bring them to Lizzie. Casey nodded again and started following the doctor. Marti ran to Casey's side, holding her hand like Derek told her too. Edwin followed on the other side of Casey, keeping his gaze to the floor._

_Derek then left the hospital, holding Casey's cell phone. Her father was on speed dial and as he listened to the rings, he wondered how this could have happened. How could their whole life crash and burn this fast?_

_Casey walked into Lizzie's room, __which was a couple rooms down from where Edwin's room was. She saw Lizzie laying down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, as if she was mentally talking to someone. Casey couldn't help but sniffle when she saw her. With Edwin and Marti, they were walking around, asking questions about everyone else, but Lizzie, Lizzie looked like she'd given up on everything._

"_Hey Lizzie," Casey said once she reached the bed. Lizzie turned her head, tear stains all over her cheeks. _

"_Did you hear?" Lizzie asked her. Casey nodded, feeling like she couldn't hold back the tears._

"_You're going to be fine you know, you're a fighter," Casey said._

"_How do you know I'll be able to fight this?" Lizzie asked her._

"_Because when you were six I saw you beat up Brad Danford because he called you a sissy. You won't let cancer beat you," Casey replied. _

_Lizzie __smiled; this was what she needed to hear. She then turned her head and started talking to Edwin and Marti. Casey looked at the door, seeing Derek standing there and she walked over to him._

"_Your father's coming,__ he'll be here in the evening," Derek said and Casey nodded, looking back at her siblings, they were all laughing at a joke Marti made. _

"_Thanks Derek," Casey said._

"_For what?" he asked her._

"_For being here for me, for everyone," she replied._

"_Hey, I'll __never leave you," he said, seeing more tears rolling down Casey's face. He grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, holding her so closely that Casey could hear his heartbeat, making her able to calm down. _

Casey was pacing in the living room, walking back and forth and checking her watch every three seconds. It was ten after five and Derek still had not come. She kept telling herself that this was normal, when was Derek ever on time? But that was when he was eighteen, he should have matured, bought a clock or something. This was good though, it gave Casey time to reflect on the dream that she had last night, she realized these dreams were getting worse, that day just went downhill from the start.

"Can we go now? He obviously stood us up," Marti said.

Casey turned her head, looking at her family members. Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti were sitting on the couch, all with their arms folded, looking bored. They were sitting there because Casey insisted that they should look at least a bit presentable so she told Marti that she couldn't wear her ripped jeans, Lizzie couldn't where her 'life sucks' sweater and Edwin couldn't wear his Metallica shirt. Casey didn't want any wrinkles in the clothes and was convinced that if she let anyone of them out of her sight then they would get their clothes dirty and insist couldn't go out with Derek. So she made them sit on the couch. The only one that wanted to go and spend time with Derek was Zachie, who was sitting in Derek's chair, swinging his legs back and forth and playing with his action figure. She wanted him to stay where he was though, he's a boy, it's in his nature to want to get dirty.

"He's going to come, have a little faith," she reassured them.

"Ya, have faith in Derek, now why would I not want to do that," Marti said, glaring at Casey. "He's not going to come, why would he? He doesn't care about us."

"He does too," Casey said just as the doorbell rang. Casey instantly relaxed, he came, he really came. She ran to the door and opened it, smiling a bit at Derek.

"Sorry I'm late, work ran a bit longer than expected," he said as Casey stepped aside to let him in.

"That's alright, I understand," Casey replied, closing the door. She was a bit surprised when Zachie leap off the chair, ran to Edwin, jumping onto his lap, and hid his face into Edwin's chest, as if he was afraid of Derek. She guessed that he only liked Faith, not Derek. All of their siblings looked at Casey and Derek like they knew they were going to dread the whole evening, at least on Tuesday, they could ignore Derek but today they promised Casey that they were going to make an effort.

"Well should we get going, I was thinking about going to Smelly Nelly's is it still good there?" Derek asked, trying his best to stay positive.

"Uh, ya, it's still good there, guys go get your coats," Casey instructed them. All of them got off the couch reluctantly and grabbed their coats without a word. "Alright, have fun," Casey said, stepping aside for them to pass her.

"You're not coming?" Derek questioned. He expected her to come, and he felt like he needed her there, to get everyone to speak to him.

"Oh no, I have 25 short stories to mark, I'll be here all night," Casey said.

"Well I'm sure that can wait, why don't you come?" Derek pushed.

"I should get them done now, to get them out of the way," Casey replied, not budging to give in. Derek nodded, knowing how much Casey loved to work ahead. "Have fun guys," Casey said pushing everyone out the door. "Don't bring them home too early," Casey whispered to Derek before he left. He nodded hoping that five thirty wouldn't be considered too early.

Derek drove to the restaurant; the whole car remained silent, no one wanting to say anything. They all got out of the car and went into the restaurant. As they sat into the booth and gave the waiter what they wanted to drink, everyone looked at their menus. All of them had been at this restaurant countless times but none of them knew what to say. When the waiter came with their drinks and took their orders, all of them just stared at their drinks.

"Okay, this is ridiculous," Derek finally said breaking the silence. "You guys are going to go home and Casey is going to ask you what we talked about. We all know when you say nothing, she will give you her annoyed look and although it is funny to make her mad, she will end up in my office tomorrow yelling at me and I don't need that embarrassment at work," Derek continued. This made everyone at the table smile; everyone could completely picture Casey yelling at Derek in his office, she never was shy at yelling at Derek in a public area.

"Maybe we want her to yell at you," Lizzie said, making Derek fidget a little. "It was always entertaining to watch, trying to figure out what you did to make Casey mad," Lizzie finished and started to laugh, as Derek relaxed.

"We could never get all of them, it happened so often," Edwin added chuckling himself.

"I'm surprised you got any of them," Derek said, laughing as well.

"Please, nine out of ten times it was because you pulled a prank on her," Lizzie said.

"You do pranks?" Zachie asked once they all calmed down and Derek nodded. Zachie smiled, "Cool, can you teach me some?" he asked him.

Derek nodded again and whispered, "Just don't tell Casey."

This caused everyone to laugh again except for Marti, as the waiter came with their food. Edwin, Lizzie and Zachie were talking and laughing with Derek through the meal but Marti wasn't, she couldn't until she knew the answer to the question that had been bugging her all these years.

"Derek, why did you leave?" she asked him so bluntly that everyone turned their heads at her then at Derek all waiting for the answer.

---

"Hey Dr. Madison," Casey said to her mother's doctor as she walked into the room. Dr. Madison turned her head and smiled at Casey.

"Hello," she said. "I'll be out in a sec," she continued, knowing that Casey only came to visit her mother by herself when she had something on her mind.

"Any change?" she asked.

Dr. Madison shook her head. "No," she said, closing her file. "I'll let you talk to her," she said leaving the room.

Casey nodded, walking over to her mother's bed. She sat down at the end of the bed, looking down at Nora, watching her chest rise up and down, knowing that she's breathing but only because of machines. She reached and grabbed Nora's hand, but only barely touching it.

"Hey mom," Casey started. She always had trouble talking to her mother knowing that she could most likely not hear her. "It's sunny today, right after a snowfall last night. I know you always loved the sight right after a snowfall, looking at the untouched snow as it glistens in the sunlight. You would always make me look, since I was a little kid, making me look at the beauty before I jump and played in it. I do it now, make Zachie look at the snow before he plays in it, although I don't think he really cares, grade one boys usually don't care about that sort of stuff." Casey paused looking at her mother, knowing that if she was awake and that she was really talking to her, Nora would have nodded, waiting patiently for Casey to say what was really on her mind.

"This isn't why I came here, to tell you about the weather," Casey continued. "Um, Derek's back, he came back except when I found out he was here, I did nothing what I thought I would do. When he first left, I thought he would come back, I thought he would miss us so much that he would come begging back and I thought I would take him back in a heartbeat, telling him that we all make mistakes. Then after a year past by, then two, then three, I became angrier and angrier. I thought if he came back then, I wouldn't let him back in, tell him to get the hell out of our lives and stay out.

"But when he came here, when I saw him in the mall with his girlfriend and at the house, I couldn't do anything but try and be polite because I knew, I knew he didn't come back because he knew it would hurt me too much." Casey tried the best she could but she couldn't help stop the tears she'd been holding back come out and roll down her cheeks. "I made him stay away from his family; I made our family suffer when I spend these past six years trying to make everything go back to normal.

"So I asked myself why it took me so long to realize this, why I needed Derek to come and hurt me to figure this out and the reason is that I was just a kid. I was eighteen, going to the university of my dreams, dance around the world and be with the love of my life and then I had to grow up over night. I had to become the mother and the father of this family while you and George were in comas then stayed the parent while George went out to bars to drink and drive home almost killing himself every night. I was forced to become the adult so I spent the whole time trying to do what's best for our family, ignoring my feelings towards Derek.

"The truth is thought I miss him mom, I miss him so much and I don't want to anymore. I want the pain to stop, I want you to wake up and fix everything." Casey said to her mother. She then let go of her mother's hand and rested her hands on Nora's shoulders. "I want you to just open your eyes right now and wake up, wake up," she said, slightly shaking her. "Please wake up mommy, please wake up!" Casey said. She let go of Nora's shoulders and rested her head on her mother's chest hearing her heartbeat but instead of soothing her as Derek's had when she found out about Lizzie having cancer, it upset her even more. She knew her mother was alive but not alive enough to help her.

---

"Auntie Casey!" Zachie shouted running into the house. Casey got up from her seat in the kitchen and met Zachie in the dinning room as he jumped into her arms.

"Hey honey, did you have fun?" she asked him and he nodded quickly then wiggled himself free to go play in his room.

Casey smiled and looked at her siblings. Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti all seemed to be smiling and so did Derek. She then caught Derek's eyes and she couldn't break eye contact and neither could Derek. Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti noticed this and all secretly knew what they had to do.

"Well, later Derek, gotta start trying to put Zachie to bed," Edwin said, following his son up the stairs.

"Ya, and I gotta try and finish my essay tonight," Lizzie said walking up the stairs, followed by Marti, claiming that she also had homework.

Casey and Derek stood there in an awkward silence until Casey decided that she should say something. "So do want some coffee or something?" she asked him.

Derek nodded, "coffee sounds good," he said, taking off his jacket and shoes and followed Casey into the kitchen. She grabbed a mug and poured some coffee as Derek looked at the short stories that Casey was marking. Derek started reading one of them but stopped when Casey handed him his coffee and asked him a question.

"So everyone looks happy, did you guys have a good time?"

Derek nodded. "We had a good time, how was your night marking work?" he asked back.

"It was good," she said. Then there was a slight awkward pause.

Derek cleared his throat. "So uh, I listened to the song you told me to, I liked it, nice beat."

Casey smiled a bit, feeling her cheeks get hot from embarrassment. "Ya sorry about that, and yesterday, I shouldn't have yelled," she said, sitting down at the island as Derek sat across from her.

"No need to apologize, it made things seem normal," he said, while smirking.

Casey couldn't say anything, she was caught up looking at his lips but told herself to pull it together. "So what did you guys talk about?" she questioned. Derek stopped smiling as he debated if he should tell her and decided to.

"We talked about why I left," Derek said, causing Casey to look down at her coffee.

"Oh." Was all she could come up to say.

"Marti asked me. Do you want to know what my answer was?" he asked.

Casey shook her head. "I already know the answer," she said.

"Oh? And what is that?" Derek asked her.

"You couldn't handle the responsibility," Casey replied. Derek then jumped up startling her. He ran his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated.

"Is that what you think?" Derek asked walking to her, grabbing her hands into his. Casey was too surprised to pull away. "Is it?" he asked her, looking into her eyes, making Casey feel completely vulnerable.

"If it isn't that then what is it?" she asked him.

"Casey I left… I left because I couldn't stand everyone in pain and I couldn't fix it. I couldn't make them happy, I couldn't make you happy, that's why I left," he said softly. Casey then ripped her hands out of Derek's and got up.

"So you left because you couldn't make me happy? That's your reason why you stuck me with being the only adult in the house, leaving me to handle everything?" she shouted. She walked out of the kitchen, to the coat rack, grabbed Derek's jacket and threw it at him since he followed her. She then opened the door. "I think you should leave," she said quietly. Derek didn't say anything, he put on his shoes and left the house.

Casey then closed the door and looked at the top of the stairs, seeing all of her siblings staring back at her, all with broken faces, knowing that they probably were not going to see Derek again. "Damn it!" she said. She threw the door open and ran outside without a coat or shoes.

"Derek!" she called making Derek stop backing out of the driveway. He rolled down the window looking at her as if she was crazy.

"What?" he asked.

"Come here tomorrow, same time, take them out somewhere, anywhere, just do it," she said. Derek nodded and Casey smiled a bit then ran back inside. She was glad that she was able to make her family happy, that was her first and only job, to make sure that they are happy.

Reviews are always welcome


	7. So Close but Yet, so Far

a/n: sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, school sucks sometimes.

disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 7: So Close but Yet, so Far

_**Two o'clock in the morning,  
Something's on my mind,  
Can't get no rest,  
Keep walking around.**_

_The Macdonald/Venturi clan had to wait for hours before they got an update for Nora and George conditions. They stayed mostly in Lizzie's hospital room, trying to cheer __her up. Derek took Marti and Edwin to the cafeteria to get some food while Casey stayed in the room with Lizzie. _

_They barely got back to the room with food for Lizzie and Casey when Dr. Sheppard walked in. __He was once again holding files in his hand, cursing himself in his head, wishing for this day to be over. _

_Casey stood up immediately, wanting to know about her mother and George. Derek went to her side, worried that she might faint. She kept a smile on her face but Derek could tell how stressed she was. She looked many years older than she actually was, having __bags under her eyes and wrinkles on her face. Not that he looked much better himself but he was used to hiding his emotions, Casey wasn't._

"_Hello again," Dr. Sheppard said, nodding his head to each of them. He didn't wait for them to reply, knowing that __they just wanted to find out what happened with their family. "The surgeries were successful for both Nora Macdonald-Venturi and George Venturi." _

_Casey relaxed a bit, letting out the gush of air that she was holding. "So the__y're okay, right?" she asked. Dr. Sheppard grew tense, looking down at his file, afraid to look at any of the family members._

"_It seems that in their conditions, they both__ entered into a coma, there is a slight possibility that they will most likely never wake up," he said as he heard the cry coming from Casey. He saw her drop to the ground as Derek caught her, holding her as she sobbed in his chest._

"_Derek what do __we do? What do we do?" she asked over and over. Derek gently rocked her back and forth as he spoke._

"_We fight Casey, we fight against this situation and we conquer it," he whispered, which was all Casey needed to hear to get the strength to fight._

Derek came back the next day, right at five exactly to spend time with his family. He wanted to make everything right since he was leaving tomorrow. This time though he did not plan to take them out anywhere. Holding bags of Chinese food in one hand and a rented movie in the other, he rang the doorbell with his index finger. He heard feet banging on the floor, running to the door, knowing that it had to be Zachie rushing to greet him. Zachie opened the door and shouting Derek's name but quickly stepped aside instead of jumping on him, seeing Derek's arms full of bags.

Derek stepped inside the house, seeing his younger siblings standing their, welcoming him in. When they saw that food, they quickly grabbed it, allowing Derek to take off his jacket. As he did, he saw Casey come out of the kitchen with a puzzled look on her face.

"What's in the bags?" she asked as her siblings ran past her and placed the bags on the dinning room table. After they placed the food on the table, they watched the scene in front of them, turning their heads to whoever was talking.

"Food," Derek said, walking into the living room and placing the rented movie on the coffee table.

"And what's that?" Casey asked, referring to the rented movie.

"A DVD," he replied bluntly.

"I know what it is but why did you bring food over and a movie?" she questioned.

"Well the food is to eat, and the movie is to watch," Derek explained.

"I thought you were going to take them out to eat, not bring food over," Casey said.

"Well you said that I can choose what activity I want to do with my family and I decided take-out and a movie. Is that okay with you?" Derek waited for the answer as the rest of the family did.

Casey didn't respond because she was trying to process everything, she wanted to avoid Derek this evening. She expected him to take the family out somewhere. Not only that but he referred to Marti, Lizzie, Edwin, and Zachie as his family, something that he hadn't said in a while.

"Uh, that's fine, make yourself at home," Casey said as she started to walk upstairs.

"You know Casey, there is enough food for you too," Derek called, making Casey stop halfway up the stairs. Please Derek no, Casey thought as she turned around, seeing him smirk, knowing that he planned this all along. Casey matched his smirk with a smile of her own.

"That's alright, I already ate," she declared.

"No you haven't," Marti butted in. Casey turned to her, wondering what her family had up their sleeve.

"Yes, well, I have work to do," Casey replied, hoping that everyone would buy her lame lie.

"Please Auntie Casey, it'll be fun," Zachie pleaded. Who was she kidding, her family, even the smallest member saw right through her.

"Fine," she said walking back down the stairs. She sat down at her seat as Lizzie and Marti rushed to the kitchen to get the plates and utensils. Derek sat right across from her, he whispered that he was sorry about yesterday. Casey nodded whispering back that she was sorry too and he sent her his trademark smirk that made Casey fall in love with him all over again.

Little did the family know that as they sat down to dinner, all of them laughing and joking around, feeling that they were going to get their family back, that there was someone outside the house, trying to stop this from happening. Faith stood outside, staring through the window at the happy family, knowing that Derek would never consider her family if he had this family.

She thought at first that if she was the one that brought Derek and his family together that he would be so grateful that he would want to marry her and that his family would love her. Her plan failed miserably when she found out what role Casey had in Derek's past. Not only did she know that Casey stilled loved Derek but Faith could see it in Derek's eyes that he loved her back. He never did look at her the way he looked at Casey.

Faith walked back to her car, stomping her feet in frustration. There was no way that she was going to lose Derek, especially to his stepsister. She was going to fight using everything that she got. She knew exactly what she was going to do, all she had to do was pick the right time to pursue it.

---

"What do you mean you don't have popcorn?" Derek asked Casey.

"I mean that I don't have popcorn," Casey replied.

"Chips? Gummy bears? Marshmallows?" he asked her as she shook her head.

"I don't like them eating too much junk food, obesity kills you know," Casey stated, causing Derek to roll his eyes. He left the kitchen, calling his family members, telling them to get their shoes and coats on.

"What are you doing?" Casey questioned.

"I'm going to take my family out to the store and let them buy whatever candy they want. How can you have a movie night without the snacks?" he said.

"Fine," Casey replied, "but I'm not going and watch you corrupt them."

"Fine, we'll be back soon with good food," Derek said walking outside, followed by the rest of the family.

Casey closed the door behind them and couldn't stop smiling. She just had her first bickering match with Derek that didn't lead to them being mad at each other. She enjoyed Derek's company, and wished that he wasn't going to leave town tomorrow. She was barely halfway across the living room when she heard the doorbell ring.

"What did you forget?" she called, rolling her eyes and walking to the door but when she opened it, she didn't see one of her family members standing on the porch but Faith. "Oh hello," Casey said, a bit shocked, seeing Derek's girlfriend since at dinner he admitted that he didn't tell Faith where he was tonight.

"Hello," Faith said, stepping inside the house. She closed the door and both girls stared at each other.

"Um, would you like some coffee?" Casey asked, trying to be polite.

"No, this won't take long," Faith said. She continued without letting Casey speak. "I know what you're doing and I want you to stop," she accused.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Casey said, completely confused.

Faith took a step towards her, getting right up in her face. "Oh don't act all innocent, you fooled me once but you will not do it again. You have been trying to steal Derek away from me, I thought you had a little more class Casey Macdonald. Boy was I wrong, you're just a slut with pathetic unfashionable clothes. Where did you get that shirt anyways? The dumpster?"

"Now wait just a second!-" Casey tried to say, feeling the anger raise inside her.

"Did I say speak, I don't think so. Now where was I, oh ya, stay the hell away from Derek, he's mine and if you try to take him away from me, I will hunt you down and make sure that whatever you hold dear will suffer." Faith tried to act intimidating but being a foot smaller than Casey, made her laugh at the threat.

"What are you going to do? Make my hair turn green?" Casey asked, she wasn't scared at all. She knew Faith's type since high school, always getting what they want and when they didn't they went insane, placing empty threats everywhere.

Instead of Faith getting even angrier, she just smiled. "Your mother is on life support isn't she?" Faith asked but more like stated it as if she already knew the answer.

"Yes," Casey said slowly, not seeing where she was getting at.

"Oh, well, my friend works at a hospital here in London and it would be a shame if that plug that kept your mother alive just happens to fall out," she said. Casey's anger grew even more inside her.

"Don't you dare touch my mother," she said in a harsh whisper, afraid that if she said it too loud, Nora would die that very second.

"Oh I promise I won't but whose to say that someone who works there might not accidently unplug it, it could happen. Stay away from Derek and I promise everything to do with your mother will be fine. Okay, bye now," Faith said opening the door. She stopped though and turned to face Casey. "Oh and don't tell Derek, if you know what's best for your mother." And with that, she left the house, leaving Casey mortified at what Faith said. It was so easy to have the plug pulled, anyone could do it. So she decided, for the sake of her mother, she wouldn't say anything to anyone, especially Derek.

---

Casey knew that her family was home before they even entered the house, hearing the laughter. She opened the door, welcoming in her family in along with the huge bags full of junk food. From pop tarts to chocolate syrup, you name it, they bought it.

"We are never going to be healthy again. It's a good thing that there's no school tomorrow or else no one would make it there," Casey stated.

"Hey, we only live once," Derek said, putting in the movie as everyone crowded on the couch or right in front of it. They left Derek's chair for him and Derek smiled, some things never changed.

Halfway through the movie Casey noticed that Zachie fell asleep, which was surprising because of all the candy he ate. She picked him up slowly and carried him upstairs, bringing him into his room. She placed him under the covers and was walking away when she heard his small voice speak.

"Auntie Casey, are we going to see Uncle Derek again?" he asked her.

"Of course now go to sleep," she lied through her teeth as she shut off the light and walked back downstairs. The truth was she had no idea if they were going to see Derek again, if Faith had her way, it would be a no and she guessed Faith always got what she wanted.

Instead of going back to the movie, Casey went to the kitchen to get some water. She didn't notice that Derek watched her come down the stairs and followed her until he spoke.

"So I guess I tired him out," Derek said, reaching for a glass of his own. He then leaned over Casey to get to the tap, Casey quickly walked to the other side of the island. Derek stared at her, confused to why she was so jumpy since he got back from the store.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked her. Casey looked at him, surprised that he would ask something like that.

"No, why?"

"Well it just seems that you have been ignoring me since we got back from the store," Derek stated.

"I haven't," she denied.

"Uh, ya, you have. When I tried to talk to you during the movie you gave me the cold shoulder," Derek said, while walking around the island, moving closer to her.

"Well I was trying to watch the movie, I've never seen it before," Casey said, walking around the island to put some distance between herself and Derek.

"Lizzie said that you took her and Marti to see it in theatres." Derek replied.

"Well, I haven't seen it in a while," Casey said, trying to hide the embarrassment that she was in since Derek caught her in her lie.

"Come on Casey, you can tell me, what did I do?" he asked, walking around the island and before Casey could move, he grabbed her hands, holding them in his. "Please Casey, just tell me. I don't want to leave London tomorrow with you mad at me, I want to come back soon and see our family, and see you," he continued, talking steps closer to her. Casey didn't have the strength to pull away, wanting to be close to Derek.

"You didn't do anything," Casey said before Derek's lips crashed onto her own. She immediately kissed back, holding his neck as he held her waist. It seemed like an eternity when Casey finally pulled away. "I can't, sorry," she said, thinking about what Faith would do to her mother if she found out what just happened. She began to walk away but Derek grabbed her arm.

"Yes you can," he said, pulling her against him. He rested his forehead on hers, closing his eyes. "Just say the word and I'll stay, I'll do anything to make it work, just say the word."

Casey wanted to say 'stay.' She wanted to shout it from the rooftops so badly. She wanted to tell Derek that she loved him and hear him say it back. She had been waiting for this moment for six years, but she couldn't do it. She had to make sure Faith never touched her mother.

"No Derek I can't," she said, pulling away from him and running up to her room. She was lucky that her family didn't notice her and that she was able to make it up there and close her door before tears came pouring down her cheeks, feeling her sadness build up inside her.

Reviews are always welcome


	8. To Put It Bluntly

disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 8: To Put it Bluntly

_**If I pretend that nothing  
Ever went wrong,  
I can get to my sleep,  
I can think that we just carried on.**_

_Derek walked as quietly as he could down the creaky staircase, holding his suitcase in one hand and his duffle bag over his shoulder. He hated doing this, leaving everyone, he truly did but he couldn't stay. He couldn't handle it with __Nora's and George's state having no change, Lizzie was so weak and tired all the time with the chemo. Edwin never talked to anyone and Marti was having nightmares about the truck hitting them almost every night. _

_And Casey, Casey spend all her time and energy trying to fix everything that she and Derek barely talked to each other anymore. The only times they did talk was when they were fighting. Derek couldn't remember the last time he kissed her or even touch her. They were two strangers living in the same house and he couldn't take it anymore. Life wasn't suppose to turn out like this. He and Casey were suppose to go to the same university, get married and live happily ever after. Where was their happy ending? He walked towards the door, only pausing to put on his ratty old running shoes when he heard a familiar voice._

"_So this is it huh? Were you even going to at least leave a note?" Casey asked. It was dark; the only light was the moon shining through the living room window but Derek could still make out her shape, sitting on the couch, with her arms folded._

"_I left a note," Derek said, staying where he was._

_Casey slowly go up and walked over to him, only leaving about a foot of space between them. "What's it say?" she questioned. "Sorry but I'm being selfish and going to chase after my dreams?" Derek tried to say something but Casey continued. "I saw the letter from University of Alberta, how they are so pleased that you decided to accept their offer to go to their university in such short notice. You kno__w, when I said we have to change schools, I meant we have to try to change to an university close to London or in London so we could stay and take care of the family. I didn't mean to change to an university halfway across the country. Sorry I wasn't clear enough." _

_Derek looked down at the ground, afraid to meet her gaze. "I need to go Casey, I can't be here," he replied in a whisper._

"_And you don't think that they need you here? Who calms down Marti after her nightmares and who gets Edwin to utter a word, even if it is just ouch, and who always makes Lizz__ie laugh, no matter how sick she's feeling? Who always stays positive with mom's and George's condition? They need you Derek, you keep this family going," Casey said, hoping that Derek would just forget about this ridiculous idea about leaving._

"_No, I don't kee__p this family going, you do. You're always paying the bills, working, doing research on Marti's, Lizzie's, dad's, and Nora's conditions? Who's comforting our siblings, telling them that everything is going to be alright?" Derek asked._

"_And who keeps me going Derek?__ You keep me alive instead of being a robot, just going through the motions!" Casey said, tears starting to stream down her cheeks. Never in her life had she ever asked for help, always too proud, knowing that if she really needed it, she would get it, but not now. Now she was ready to beg, all her pride out of her mind. She needed him. "I need you Derek," she said, leaning in and kissing him softly on the lips._

_Derek touched her shoulders and gently pushed her away. "I'm sorry," he said. He picked up his suitcase and duffle bag and walked out the front door._

_Casey slid to the floor, putting her head in her hands and started crying quietly, afraid __that if she was too loud, she would wake up her siblings. She looked up when she heard the faint sound of a car engine starting and fade away. She got up when she couldn't hear the sound anymore and slowly walked up the stairs. She walked to Derek's room and opened the door. She went to his bed, seeing the note that he left them. She ripped it open and read it about a thousand times that night. She read it repeatedly, hoping that something would change but it didn't, the words stayed the same. 'I'm sorry, I can't be here, I wish you all the best, I love you all –Derek' was all it said._

_She kept the note but there was no reason __to, she had it memorized front and backwards. She never showed it to her siblings or to George when he woke up, she couldn't. She stuffed it in her desk drawer, beside her ring box where she later placed her ring. She believed that he made a mistake and would realize it and come back home. She was proven wrong when, months later, she was notified from her bank that someone sent her a wire transfer of a hundred dollars, and Casey knew that Derek wouldn't be coming back. That was the day that she vowed to never forgive herself for not insisting her mother to come home and not stay a day later at the family reunion. _

Lizzie knew something was wrong when she woke up that morning and went to the kitchen for breakfast. She had to go to work and she expected Casey to be in the kitchen, as she was every Saturday morning, making breakfast. Only when she walked into the kitchen, Casey wasn't in there. She left the room and went to the living room where Zachie was watching his cartoons.

"Zachie do you know where Casey is?" she asked.

Zachie, who usually would give Lizzie a one-word answer, not even turning his head in case there was a chance that he would miss something, looked directly in Lizzie's eyes.

"She's in her room, crying. She told me to make my own breakfast and watch cartoons," he said. He looked worried, Casey had always woken up with Zachie to make sure he didn't turn on the stove and burn himself. She always put her family first.

Lizzie nodded, reassuring him that she would fix whatever was wrong with Casey and went back upstairs. She ran to Casey's room and knocked softly on the door. "Casey," she called, "it's Lizzie."

"Lizzie could you make your own breakfast today, please," Casey called through the door.

"Okay, I will, but can I come in first?" Lizzie questioned knowing through Casey's voice that she must have been crying.

"No, please Lizzie, just leave me alone, give me one day by myself," Casey begged.

"Alright," Lizzie agreed, stepping away from the door.

She didn't know what to do. Lizzie knew why Casey wanted to be left alone today, since Derek was leaving. He did promise that he would visit more often for now on but she knew it wouldn't be enough for Casey. She wanted to be with Derek but it wasn't going to happen and she wanted this day to cry and be sad. Lizzie wished she could make Casey feel better but she had to get to work, Casey would never forgive her if she called in sick for her. She decided to do the only thing she could do, call Casey's two best friends, Rachel and Mark.

A half an hour later, Marti opened the front door for Rachel and Mark. Lizzie had already left for work and so did Edwin so it was only her and Zachie in the house, besides crying Casey.

"Where is she?" Rachel asked, quickly taking off her jacket and shoes as Mark did also, both of them equally concerned for Casey as her family was.

"In her room," Marti said, leading them upstairs.

Rachel knocked on the door first. "Casey, honey, open the door," she said softly. They each strained to hear her answer until they heard a muffled no.

"Move aside," Mark said pushing Rachel as he gasped. "Rachel you spill coffee on the rug, oh someone should get that now or else it could stain, forever," Mark said, to the door. Then they heard footsteps moving quickly towards the door and it was thrown open with one very tear stained cheeks Casey, looking at the ground for the coffee stain. Mark quickly pushed inside and Rachel followed.

"There's no coffee stain," Casey stated.

"Really, huh, my mistake," Mark said sarcastically. "Now what's the matter?"

Casey sighed, closed her door, walked over to her bed, and flopped down between her two friends. "Derek is leaving today," she said.

"Yes, we knew that since Monday when I believe your exact count down was six more days till the bastard is gone," Rachel said.

"I know, it's just well…" Casey started to say as she lied down on her bed. Rachel and Mark sat at the end of the bed, waiting for her to continue.

"Well what?" Rachel pressed, softly.

"We kind of kissed yesterday."

"Where?" Mark asked, suddenly so interested in the story.

"In the kitchen," Casey said, missing the meaning to the question.

"No I mean, did you kiss on the cheek or lips?" Mark clarified while resisting the urge to not to roll his eyes.

"It was on the lips, and then he asked me to tell him to stay," Casey replied, deciding to just get everything out in the open all at once.

"And you said stay right. Please tell me you told him to stay?" Mark said.

Casey looked at her two friends. "Why? Is that what you bet on this time?" she asked as she heard the faint sound of the phone ringing.

"No of course not," Rachel said, with her hand crossed behind her back as was Mark's.

"Well I didn't tell him to stay," she replied.

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"Are you insane?" Mark then asked.

"You wouldn't understand," Casey said.

"Try us," Rachel replied but Casey didn't get a chance to answer because Marti knocked on the door and then opened it.

"Casey, the phone's for you and they say it's urgent," Marti said. Casey looked away, she had been crying all morning and she was sure her voice would show it, whoever was on the phone was going to have to call back. Before she could say that though, Mark reached for the phone.

"This is Casey Macdonald's secretary, how may I help you?" Mark sung into the phone. "What do you mean elementary school teachers don't have personal secretaries? Of course they do, with all the work they have," Mark lied into the phone. "Now whatever you were going to tell Ms. Macdonald, you can tell me and I promise I'll pass it to her right away, she is just in the washroom right now."

He then began to nod but stopped as his eyes bulged out and he looked at Marti then at Casey. Everyone in that room was staring at Mark. "How?" he asked and then he nodded again. "Okay, she will get there as fast as she can, and trust me, she'll move fast, thank you very, very much," he said then he placed the phone down and looked at Casey, trying to find the right way to tell her.

"That was the hospital," he said, making Casey sit up quickly stressed with anticipation. She was worried that Faith had seen her and Derek kiss and decide to act on her threat. If she found out that her mother was dead, she wouldn't know what to do. "It's your mother," Mark continued since Casey didn't say anything. "She woke up, they don't know how but she has and she is asking for her family," Mark said.

"Oh my god?" Marti said slowly, not fully believing it.

Now usually Casey would tell Marti not to swear but she was speechless. Her mother, after six years was awake. Casey jumped up quickly and ran to her closet, this time picking carefully but quickly what she was going to wear. She didn't want her mother to see her for the first time in six years in a track suit. She picked simple jeans and a nice green sweater and pulled them out of her closet. She then turned to everyone in her room.

"Why are you still here, Marti go get Zachie ready to go," she said and Marti smiled and ran out of the room. She then turned to Mark and Rachel. "Can you guys go get Edwin and Lizzie, I'm sure they want to see my mom too," Casey said. They nodded, giving her a quick hug before running out of her room. Casey changed quickly, brushing her teeth and hair as fast as she could. She didn't bother with make-up she just wanted to see her mother awake.

---

Marti, Zachie, and Casey ran through the hospital but stopped right outside the room. Marti and Casey straiten their clothes before going in, wanting to look their best. The walked in slowly, Casey first with Marti behind her, holding Zachie's hand. Mark and Rachel were able to get Edwin and Lizzie to the hospital before them.

"Mom," Casey said, running to the bed and hugging her. She started to cry as she felt Nora's arms wrap around her.

"Oh Casey you're not a teenager anymore," Nora said, sounding so excited. Casey then moved away to let Marti hug her.

"And Marti, look how much you've grown, I take it you've outgrown your stuff animal faze." Marti nodded as she stepped aside. "And who is this?" Nora asked, referring to Zachie who was hiding behind Edwin. Edwin reached and pulled Zachie into his arms.

"This is my son, Zachie, the one who I was telling you about," Edwin said. Nora nodded, immediately approving of Zachie's existence never passing judgment on any of her children, especially since she missed the moment for Edwin to tell her that he got a girl pregnant.

"How do you do Zachie," Nora replied and Zachie smiled.

"Hello grandma Nora," he said, causing everyone to smile.

"Where's Derek and George?" Nora asked, she had been wanting to know since she saw her children. Everyone looked to the ground, including Mark and Rachel.

"George is in rehab, for drinking, I'm sure he'll want to get better as fast as he can when he hears that you're awake," Casey said.

Nora was shocked. "So have you been taking care of everyone?" she asked Casey and she nodded. "Oh my, what responsibility you and Derek must have had." Nora said, assuming that Derek had stayed. "Where is he anyways?" she asked again. This time Casey didn't have the strength to tell her the truth.

"He didn't stay with us, he went to Alberta and has been gone for about six years but he came back for a week and we've forgiven him," Lizzie said for Casey.

"What do you mean he didn't stay, he broke up with you?" Nora asked, causing Casey to look at her. She never told Nora that she and Derek were dating for fear that she and George would disapprove, she only told her younger siblings.

"How did you-"

"Please Casey, it didn't take a genius to realize that you two were dating and in love. The fighting stopped between you two and playful bickering came in with secret smiles and silent jokes. It wasn't that hard to figure it out, well it was for George, I had to spell it out for him but well, he was always oblivious. I assumed that you two would tell George and me when you were ready, but I guess you never got the chance. Now did you two make up when you saw Derek now?" she asked. Casey shook her head and Nora was about to say something but Mark butted in.

"They kissed yesterday and Derek asked Casey to tell him to stay and she said no," he blurted out.

"Mark!" Rachel said smaking him on the head.

"Ya thanks Mark," Casey said sarcastically.

"Are you insane?" Nora cried, looking at Casey.

"What?" Casey asked, completely shocked that her mother would say that.

"That's what I asked!" Mark shouted triumphantly.

"Casey, you only live once and true love is very rare so when you find it, you're suppose to grab hold of it and never let go, not send it away." Nora said.

"How do I know that he has feelings for me too or just that he lost his mind yesterday?" Casey asked.

"Well according to our research," Edwin said, pulling out a binder out of his bag, "Derek still has feelings for you."

"You two were doing research, some things never change," Nora said. "Where is Derek now?" Nora asked.

"On a plane with his girlfriend," Casey said, feeling that all hope was lost, she saw Nora having the same look.

"No he's not," Marti replied. Everyone looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Lizzie asked, knowing that Derek had a morning flight.

"His plane takes off at 11, it's 10:30 right now," Marti said.

Casey looked at Nora, already knowing what she was going to say. "Go," she said. Casey nodded and ran out of the room. Marti ran after her, she had a friend that worked at the airport and could probably get Casey to Derek faster.

---

Casey and Marti ran into the airport as fast as they could. Never in all her life had Marti witness to so many driving rules being broken all at the same time. Apparently to Casey, speed limits, stop signs, and no parking zones were only mere suggestions and didn't have too be followed.

"Casey wait up!" Marti called, cursing herself that she had been faking sick during gym class when they had to do laps around the track. She also cursed herself for not getting Derek's cell phone number this would have been so much easier if she got his number. She finally caught up to her when Casey stopped, trying to figure out which way to go.

"This way," Marti said, knowing where Derek would be. Casey followed Marti, and as they got closer, they heard that it was the last call for flight 518, Derek's flight. When they arrived, they were stopped right in front of the gate.

"Excuse me, you can't board without letting me see your ticket first," the man said.

"We don't have tickets," Casey said, feeling all hope lost. She sat down on the chair in the waiting area.

Marti didn't want to give up, she couldn't. Casey did so much for her and she wanted to do this for her. "DEREK!!!!!!!!!" she screamed, causing everyone to look in her direction, thinking that she was a freak. Then there was silence. Casey looked at the door, praying that Derek would walk through it. When a moment passed, and nothing happened, Marti took another huge breath in but was stop by the man.

"Please, if you don't have a ticket, leave," he said.

"Come on Marti, there's nothing else we can do. We did our best," Casey said, pulling Marti's arm, afraid that the man would call security and they would end up in airport prison.

"I really thought it would work, I mean it worked on 'Friends,'" Marti said.

"I know sweetie, I know," Casey replied wrapping her arm around Marti's shoulder as Marti rested her head on Casey's shoulder.

"So what are you going to do now?" Marti questioned.

"I don't want to call his home number, I don't think I have enough strength to speak to him, hearing his voice anymore, there still is a possibility that he might reject me. I'll send him a letter to his office since I know where he works; Faith said it so many times on Tuesday that it will be engraved in my head forever." Marti nodded, it was all up to snail mail now.

Reviews are always welcome


	9. That was Then, and This is Now

a/n: sorry it took so long, school got really busy.

disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 9: That was Then, and This is Now

_**This is the hardest story,  
That I've ever told,  
No hope or love or glory,  
Happy Endings,  
Gone for ever more,**_

It had been a little over a week since Casey had sent the letter to Derek, pouring her heart out. Nora was still at the hospital, trying to get back to normal as fast as she could. George was able to visit her and he had seem to be improving dramatically since then, wanting to get out of rehab quickly. Casey hadn't had another dream about the past since Nora woke up, things were starting to slowly get back to normal.

Well, everything besides Derek. Derek only called once since he left but no one was home so he left a message. So Casey had to wait patiently, waiting for her letter to reach Derek. Her family members and friends tried to reassure her that once he read the letter that he would come back but that didn't stop Casey thinking up crazy ideas that he would just laugh at the letter then put it through the shredder. To help with luck, Casey took out her 25 cent wedding ring that Derek gave her years before and placed it on her ring finger. She would pray that Derek would get that letter soon and phone her to tell her that he loved her and wanted to be with her.

What Casey didn't know was that the letter had arrived. Unfortunately, it had been brought up to the office and was handed to Derek's secretary, Faith. Faith immediately recognized who it was from. She knew that Nora Macdonald-Venturi was awake and that her threat was no longer considered a thought in Casey's mind.

Faith was scared since she knew that Nora was awake. In fact, she was there when Nora opened her eyes. See, Faith acting on impulse, went to go visit Nora, to make sure she would have the right room number if she ever had to call in a favor for someone to pull the plug. As she was there, being a bigger klutz that Casey, she tripped over the plug that was keeping Nora alive, and it fell out. She quickly grabbed the cord and plugged it back in and ran out of the room.

She grabbed the first nurse that she saw, telling her to go check on Nora, saying that she didn't look so good. The nurse ran inside the room then shouted, calling for a doctor because Nora was awake. She was shocked that she was actually the one destroying her plans to be with Derek. After using a sum amount of curse words, she ran out of that hospital as fast as she could, knowing that she had to get Derek on a plane and far away from London or else Casey would tell him how she feels and it would be game over for her.

She was successful in getting Derek out of the province and into their own without him finding out Nora was awake and she thought that she was safe. As long as Derek never spoke to Casey again, she was fine. Her wall of safety came crashing down as she was holding the letter. She knew exactly what was in that letter. She felt her hands shake as she saw Derek walking towards her, probably wanting to pick up his mail. On impulse, she opened her first desk drawer and shoved the letter in it. She got up, handed Derek his coffee and the remaining pieces of mail, and walked with him as he gave her assignments, completely forgetting about the dangerous letter that was in her desk.

---

Casey walked into her school in the morning with the same worried face as she had before. She usually loved Tuesdays, mostly because they weren't Mondays but today she couldn't tell you what colour the sky is if you asked her. She only had one thing on her mind, the letter.

"He's going to come back Casey," Rachel reassured her as they talked in Rachel's classroom.

"Shouldn't he have gotten the letter by now?" Casey asked.

"They don't call it snail mail for no reason," Mark said.

"Oh, I know," Casey said, gulping down her coffee, again wishing that alcohol would magically appear in the cup. "Why didn't I ask for his e-mail? That would have been faster."

"Because you were too busy crying in your room," Mark said, and Rachel smacked him.

"Thanks," Casey said sarcastically.

"No problem," Mark replied as the bell rang, signalling the beginning of school.

Casey walked to her classroom, getting her students to settle down. As she listened to the morning announcements, she wondered if Derek was reading her letter right now.

---

"Why did I move to Alberta?" Derek asked himself as he walked to his office. It was so cold in the winter. On his way to his office, he noticed that he got there before Faith did. She had such a crappy car and he knew it would take her a bit longer to get into work this morning, since it had snowed the night before.

When he went into his office, he wanted to staple some of his work together before mailing it and realized that his staples had ran out. He went to Faith's desk, knowing that she kept staples in the top drawer of the desk. As he opened it though, he didn't see what he expected. He expected to see paperclips, staples, rulers, etc. but what he found was the letter, addressed to him, sitting on top. He recognized immediately that this was Casey's writing and he grabbed it and ripped it open.

'Dear Derek,' it began. 'I'm writing you this letter because I missed you at the airport and I couldn't do this on the phone…' Derek couldn't believe it when he read it. Casey wanted him to come home, she loved him and she wanted to be with him. Still holding the letter, he ran into his office, grabbing his coat and running to the elevators. On his way there though, he was stopped by Faith.

"Derek where are you going?" she asked him.

"Home," he said as the elevator doors opened he stepped inside and just before the doors shut he shouted, "by the way, your fired."

Faith stood there shocked. Fired, she had never been fired. Not only that but she figured that he wasn't her boyfriend anymore and that just bothered her even more. What was she suppose to do now? She had no idea, she always got her way, and now she didn't. "This must be what average people feel like," she said as she walked to her desk to pack her things. She began to cry though, she had tried so hard not to be average but she failed. That was all she thought about, everything else, including Derek left her mind.

It was the same for Derek, all thoughts of Faith left his head. He ran to his car and as he drove to the airport, he booked a flight to London, Ontario on the way there. He wanted to tell Casey that he loved her in person, not over the phone. He was lucky that he was able to get a ticket at such sort notice. As he ran through the airport, he managed to go through security and checking really quickly. He did this by telling people why he was in such a hurry; having to tell his one true love that he loved her and when that didn't work, he said that his father is dying, only lying a little bit.

He quickly walked to the gate but on the way, he passed a machine that was selling rings for 25 cents. Derek smirked as he reached into his pocket and fished out 25 cents. He grabbed the ring case, not having time to look inside it and ran to the gate, making it just in time for his flight. Unfortunately for him, what he didn't know was that ring case belonged to a drug dealer and was carrying cocaine in it instead of a ring. Derek didn't think to look in the case, shoving it in his coat pocket to not lose it.

Derek was restless the whole flight, feeling like the plane was moving at a snail's pace. He wanted to find Casey as fast as he could. He was in such a nervous mood that he didn't care that he was in the aisle seat and that the person sitting beside him was a elderly woman who was snoring so loud that everyone could hear her. He didn't pay attention to anything around him, not at the girl who was trying to catch his eye to flirt with him or at the movie that was playing right in front of him.

He let out a gush of air when they landed, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he found Casey. He was going over all the things that he had to do in his mind before he could find Casey when he reached security. He pulled out everything that he had in his pockets, including the ring case containing cocaine and walked through the metal detector.

He waited on the other side for his things and was stopped by a security guard, telling him that he had to come with him. Derek freaked out and started to run but realized that other security guards were chasing after him. He stopped and shouted stop at the security guards, causing everyone to turn their heads. Afraid of what he might do, the security guards stopped a distance away from him, circling around him, waiting to see what he did next.

---

Casey slowly walked to the office. It was recess and she wanted to do some photocopying. She had to travel through the office to get to the photocopy machine. When she walked in and greeted Gail, the school's secretary, she shushed her. Casey was shocked, Gail loved to gossip to anyone and everyone and never stopped talking, much less shush someone. It was then that she realized most of her fellow staff members were in the office, none of them talking. She noticed Rachel and Mark in the crowd and walked up to them.

"What's going on?" she whispered to them.

"Some idiot tried to smuggle drugs through the airport and when they caught him he ran but stopped suddenly and shouted for security to not come any closer," Rachel explained.

"Is anyone hurt?" Casey asked, scared to what the world was coming to.

"Not that we know of, now shush," Mark replied. Casey closed her mouth and followed Mark's gaze to the tiny radio on Gail's desk as they all listened.

"The perpetrator is surrounded by security and police that have arrived on the scene." The radio blared out. "No one is moving in because they do not know what he will do if he gets spooked again. Wait, the perpetrator is saying something. He's asking… he's asking to make a phone call, just one phone call then he will cooperate. The police agree, only if they can hear the conversation. The perpetrator nodded his head and one police officer is moving in slowly, placing down a cell phone and sliding it to the perpetrator. He picked it up and is dialling. Who would he want to call so badly? Whoever it is, they will be placed on speakerphone, for everyone to hear. The perpetrator pressed send and-"

Casey didn't hear what the reporter said next because just then the school phone rang. Everyone looked at it, thinking the same thing, no it couldn't be. Gail reached for it on the third ring and pressed it to her ear.

"Trudeau Public Elementary school, how may I help you," Gail sang into the phone as she always did, only when she said this, it came through the radio also.

"May I please speak to Casey Macdonald?" Casey eyes bulged, knowing who the owner was to that voice.

"Just a second," Gail said then placing her hand over the phone so that no one on the other end could hear her. "Casey, the phone is for you," Gail said. Casey shook her head.

"I can't. It's Derek," Casey replied, completely freaked out at what Derek did, he has completely lost it.

"Casey this is no time to debate about this," Rachel said slowly. Casey was about to argue but Mark placed his two cents in.

"Pick up the phone woman!" Mark shouted. Casey, startled by this because Mark never yelled, reluctantly took the phone out of Gail's hands.

Casey thought of a million things in a second what to say through the phone but only the stupidest one came out. "This is Casey Macdonald," Casey sang the same way Gail had only seconds before.

"Casey! Good, I was afraid that they couldn't reach you," Derek said. Casey thought what to say next because it wasn't like a private conversation between her and Derek, everyone who was listening to that radio station was hearing what she was saying.

"Derek why are you calling?" Casey asked, sounding bored but her whole body was really jumping all around inside.

"I'm in London, at the airport," Derek said.

"I know Derek, it's on the radio, in fact this conversation is on the radio." Casey knew that he was probably looking around right now, trying to find the reporter because he didn't say anything. "Derek why are you here?" Casey asked slowly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"I'm here because…" Derek started. The entire staff leaned in, closer to the radio and Casey automatically did the same even though it didn't make a difference. "I came to London because I-" suddenly the phone went dead. "Damn your battery died," Derek shouted at the police officer but he didn't get to say anything else because another officer jumped him and he fell to the ground.

"Well, who is this Casey Macdonald and what was he going to say to her, let's hope she comes to the airport to find out for herself." Casey heard the radio say. She slowly put down the phone and looked around, seeing all of her staff members and friends staring back at her.

"Let's go," Rachel said to her. Casey was surprised that she was the one who said it, Rachel, like herself liked to think things through instead of just jumping right into them. Casey shook her head.

"I don't want to," she said as if she was five and didn't want to go to the doctor's. She sensed everyone staring at her as if she was crazy. "I don't want him to reject me in public, in front of everyone," Casey explained.

"How do you know he was going to reject you?" Rachel asked.

"She doesn't," Mark replied before Casey could say anything. "That's not why she doesn't want to go. Since the accident that your family was in, you have spent the entire time trying to get things back to normal, forgetting about what you needed because you didn't want to remember. You don't want to go to the airport because Derek might reject you but because Derek might want to be with you and you don't want that.

"You have spent these years hating yourself, never forgiving yourself, blaming yourself because you think that you could have stopped that accident. You want to be unhappy because you want to punish yourself but Casey, no one could have told the future, no one could have seen that accident coming and even if you could fix it, you wouldn't. If you did, Zachie wouldn't be here, you wouldn't have met us, you wouldn't have become the strong person you are today so what you need to do is forgive yourself and let yourself be happy for once. Go to the airport and see Derek." Once Mark was finished with his speech everyone turned to Casey but she was speechless, never had Mark said something so serious, he always joked around, Rachel was the rational one, not him.

"What if he rejects me, I don't want to be unhappy anymore," Casey said feeling tears in her eyes, knowing that what Mark said was true.

Mark pondered something for a second before he spoke. "Well if he does reject you, you can always do a murder, suicide thing," he joked which made Casey smile.

"Well, I can't just up and leave, what about my class?" Casey pointed out.

"I'll take over your class for the rest of the day, and I'll call one of your siblings to pick up Zachie, you just go Casey," the principal said, she was always a sucker for romantic stories.

Casey nodded, not thinking of any other excuse. "Okay, I'll go." Casey said running out of the office to grab her coat and bag. By the time she got to her car, Mark and Rachel were standing in front of it waiting for her.

"Uh, guys we all can't go," Casey said.

"Why? One of the special ed teachers is watching my class and Gail is watching Rachel's class, besides were sick," Mark said, nudging Rachel and she faked cough. Casey rolled her eyes.

"Fine get in the car," she replied as she beeped it open. Rachel pushed her aside though, claiming that she was in no condition to drive. Casey rolled her eyes and got into the back but she was secretly glad that she didn't have to drive. In her head, she was still convinced that Derek was going to reject her.

Rachel speeded through the traffic, how she was not pulled over was beyond Casey could imagine because she broke about ten laws in ten seconds but then again, so did she. Once they made it to the airport, Casey ran inside, followed by Mark and Rachel. Casey wasn't sure why she was running, she just felt like she had too, if she was going to be rejected then the sooner she was rejected, the sooner she could get on with her life.

"Hello," Casey said to a random police officer that she found. Usually she did not just up and talk to people she didn't know but she didn't care anymore. The officer looked at her like she was crazy and he looked behind her, seeing Mark and Rachel standing there, all three of them waiting for him to speak.

"Hello," the officer answered back slowly. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, I'm Casey Macdonald and I'm wondering if I can talk to Derek Venturi," Casey said quickly. She had so much of a tunnel vision that she didn't see the reporter listening to the conversation, getting really excited, running up to her.

"You're Casey Macdonald, the person that the suspected drug dealer had to call before he went to jail, to tell you that he loved you," the reporter said.

"Derek's in jail!" Casey replied.

"He didn't say he loved her yet," Rachel told to the reporter.

"Airport jail, it's not so bad, he is just in questioning," the officer answered Casey.

"Yes, but he was going to tell her he loved her before some officer jumped him, was that you?" Mark asked the officer, looking annoyed at him. There was a pause, all of them were having different conversations that they didn't know what to say.

"Ya, that was me," the officer answered Mark.

"You jumped him before he could tell his feelings for Casey! Do you have any idea what these two have been going through!" Rachel cried, jabbing her finger into the officer's chest.

"He could have had a bomb or a gun," the officer said, trying to justify it.

"We're in Canada you idiot. The only guns are in the ghetto!" Rachel screamed in his face. This was a bit surprising because Rachel never yelled, or lost her temper but apparently there was a first time for everything. The officer was a bit taken a back by this and didn't say anything for a second.

"Can I see Derek, please?" Casey said calmly but sternly, more of a command than a request. The officer looked a bit nervous, Casey giving him a pleading look and Rachel giving him a death glare with Mark looking at her strangely. He had never seen Rachel act this way and the reporter was sticking her microphone in the officer's face, waiting for an answer. Seeing all of this, he grew afraid and didn't say anything. He may be able to tackle people twice his size while they are holding a weapon but when it came to females, he was scared out of his mind.

"Will you let her see the one she loves or not?" The reporter asked, sticking the microphone closer to his mouth.

"Uh, well, it isn't my decision so I can't give you an answer-" the officer started to say but was interrupted by Rachel.

"Oh, for the love of…" Rachel started to say. She grabbed his walkie-talkie before the officer knew what was going on. "Okay, this is for whoever is in charge, we need to see Derek Venturi immediately!" Rachel shouted into the talkie. A couple of officers were now looking over at them, hearing Rachel speak through their talkie.

Mark then grabbed the talkie from Rachel's hand, "Ya, we really need to see him, we have the girl who is in love with him and he loves her back so let them be together!" He shouted into the talkie.

"Thanks guys," Casey said sarcastically, knowing that her love life was just broadcasted on the radio and probably will make it on the six o'clock news.

"Give me that," the officer said, grabbing the talkie from Mark's hand as another officer came over.

"What seems to be the problem Joe?" the officer asked him.

"They want to see Derek Venturi," he answered back.

"Not all of us," Casey said, becoming more self-conscious by the second. "Just me, these guys can wait outside," Casey continued, referring to Mark, Rachel, the reporter with her crew, and the small crowd of random people who were standing behind her, giving her their support.

"It is very important that Casey sees Derek. They use to be together but then their family was in a car accident and they broke up and now six years later they realize that they really belong together," Mark tried to explain.

"Which family, Casey's or Derek's?" the reporter asked.

"Both their step-siblings," Rachel said without thinking. Casey saw the reporter's eyes brighten, knowing that her story about the suspected drug dealer was getting bigger by the second.

"Guys, I know you are trying to help me but really, stop it," Casey harshly whispered.

"Please, can Casey see Derek, you have no idea what kind of pain this girl has been through. Please just let her see him," Rachel begged, obviously not listening to Casey at all.

Both officers looked at each other. "Stan, they are not going to go away until we let her see him and besides he is becoming less of a suspect every minute we are talking to these people," Joe said and Stan nodded and pulled out his walkie-talkie to get in contact with his boss.

---

"For the last time, I came here to tell the woman that I love that I want to be with her and I bought that ring as a temporarily engagement ring as I did years before when I first asked her to marry me," Derek tried to explain. He was stuck in a questioning room at the airport with a police officer because apparently he was a suspected drug dealer. He couldn't believe that he was about to tell Casey his feelings for her and he was cut off because the phone died and an officer tackled him.

"And this woman is your step-sister," the officer stated.

"Yes," Derek said nodding. The officer rolled his eyes, not believing it for a second. He couldn't have risked jail time just to tell his step-sister that he loved her.

"Let's start from the beginning, you're-" he started to say but stopped because someone was speaking to him through the walkie-talkie. Not wanting Derek to hear, just in case it was something confidential, he crossed the room to the corner, where he himself could barely hear the voice through the talkie.

"What? Say that again," the officer said, was all Derek could hear. "This is unbelievable," the officer continued, rolling his eyes. "Fine send her in, this case is shitty anyways." Once he finished, he looked over at Derek. "You are a very lucky man," he said before opening up the door and walking out holding the door open, allowing another person to walk through.

Derek couldn't believe it when he saw Casey walking through the door. He felt like he was on cloud nine, seeing her standing there, she looked like a princess, well, until she smacked him on the head.

"Derek you idiot, running away from airport security. Do you get stupider as the years go by?" she asked him. Derek stood up, not liking how he had to look up to talk to her. This way, when he stood up, he forced Casey to look up at him.

"I think I get smarter when I get older. If I was sixteen and this happened I probably wouldn't have used my one phone call to call you but dad to bail me out. Obviously, you are much faster in getting me out," Derek replied back.

"Derek why are you here?" Casey asked quickly, not looking at him but at the floor, afraid to meet his eyes.

"I came," he started, walking closer to her, placing his finger under her chin and lifting her face up gently, forcing her to look in his eyes. "I came to see you," he said softly.

"Why?" Casey asked so quietly that if they weren't so close he wouldn't have heard her. She didn't realize she was crying until she felt his thumb go across her cheek, brushing the tear away.

"I came to see you because I got your letter and I thought, wow, this must have taken a lot of guts to write. I thought I should match those guts that you have and come here, to tell you that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Unfortunately, I ended up in here since the ring that I bought you for 25 cents wasn't in the case but cocaine so it didn't turn out so well," Derek said, smirking as he saw Casey smile.

She then brought up her left hand to show Derek the ring that he bought her when they became engaged to be engaged. She took it off her finger and placed it in his hand, his smirk faded, mentally kicking himself that he put himself through hell and he was going to be rejected again. He lowered his head, looking at the ring instead of at her, afraid of what he would do if he looked at her, he didn't want to cry. She lifted his head as he just did to her but she did it with both her hands, holding the side of his face.

"I'm so tired of being engaged to be engaged. So tired of thinking that the song 'Happy Ending' is my life. I want to be engaged to you, if you will have me," she whispered. Derek smiled again and couldn't contain his joy and grabbed her and started to kiss her.

What they didn't realize was that Mark had his face pressed up against the door, waiting for the exact moment to open it and find Derek and Casey together and happy. He picked this moment and opened the door, tears filled his eyes as he say Casey kissing the one she loved as he and the crowd behind him started clapping.

"Told you it would be a 'Danielle Steels' ending," he said to Rachel as she grabbed her wallet out to give him 20 bucks. She was glad that he won this one. She began to cheer as she moved to get the microphone out of her face.

Reviews are always welcome


	10. Epilogue

a/n: this is the last chapter of the story, it was fun to write and I really enjoyed reading all of the reviews. Thanks for your patience in waiting for me to update. I'm glad you liked the story and hope that you aren't disappointed of the ending.

disclaimer: I own nothing.

Epilogue 

"Casey the phone is ringing," Derek said, poking her in the shoulder.

"And why can't you get it?" she asked him.

"Because I'm watching Zachie," Derek declared. Casey glanced at him then at Zachie, who was so absorbed in the cartoons that he wouldn't even know if a fire was happening right behind him.

"Ya right," Casey said rolling her eyes as she got up to answer the phone. Derek got up and followed her. "I thought you were watching Zachie," Casey said before she picked up the phone.

"Please, he is so absorbed in those cartoons that he wouldn't know that we were gone," Derek replied.

Casey rolled her eyes before talking into the phone. "Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Hey honey, how's everything?" Casey immediately recognized her mother's voice and smiled. After not hearing it for six years, she wanted to hear it all the time.

"Everything's fine," Casey replied.

"And Zachie, how's he doing?"

"Hang on, I'll put you on speakerphone and you can hear for yourself," Casey said pressing the speaker button and called for Zachie.

Zachie got up swiftly, it was commercial and he figured he could do what Casey asked him quickly, then go back to his show.

"Say hi to Grandma Nora," Casey instructed.

"Hi Grandma Nora," Zachie said, then glanced over to the t.v. just in time to see that the commercial break was over. "Bye Grandma Nora," he called as he ran back to the t.v.

Nora laughed as Casey shouted to Zachie that what he did was rude. "It's okay Casey, we should always remember that nothing can separate that kid from his cartoons."

Derek laughed too. "She has a point Case," he said.

"Is that Derek, how are you?" Nora asked.

"Fine, would be better if Zachie would let me watch the hockey game once in a while, but as you said, nothing separates Zachie from his cartoons."

"So mom, how is the family reunion?" Casey asked.

"Well, Uncle Larry only got drunk once, which is an improvement for him, his girlfriend really smarten him up. Just when you think you grandmother's hearing has reach the lowest it can go, she finds a new low, but of course denies that she needs a hearing aid. I guess cousin Drew will always be called Dean. George only spilled his soda on himself once but it wasn't his fault. One of the younger cousins ran into him. Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti are having a great time. Anyways, I just called to ask for your advice. Should we come home today or tomorrow?"

"Today!" Casey and Derek both shouted.

Nora began to laugh. "Sorry I couldn't resist. I'll see you soon, bye."

"Bye," Derek and Casey both said before Casey hung up the phone.

"I hate that she keeps doing that," Casey said to Derek.

"Come on, she is just having some fun," Derek said. He began to steer her towards the living room when the phone rang again. Casey reached up and grabbed it.

"Hello," she said into the phone.

"Is this Casey?"

"Yes this is, who is this?" Casey asked.

"Uh, it's Faith, Derek's girl- I mean ex-girlfriend."

"Oh," Casey said. She then mouthed to Derek, 'Faith'. Derek leaned in a bit to hear the conversation.

"Um, I just wanted to phone to congratulate you," Faith said. "For the marriage. I hear you and Derek got married last Saturday."

Casey smiled. "Yes we did."

"Well I'm happy for you both and I'm, um, just really sorry about that whole wanting to kill your mother thing," Faith replied.

"That's quite alright," Casey said not really caring about it. She just didn't want to talk to her.

"Ya, okay, well, have a great life and a splendid honeymoon," Faith replied.

"You too, the great life, not the honeymoon, I mean have a great honeymoon when you get married well if that's what you want in life…" Casey rambled.

"Casey, hang up," Derek whispered to her.

"Bye," Casey said to Faith then quickly put the phone down, ending the phone call.

"Have a great honeymoon if that's what you want in life," Derek mocked her.

"Shut up, what am I suppose to say to her?"

"See you in court?" Derek suggested.

"I'm not pressing charges on her. If it wasn't for her, mom would still be in a coma."

"So she says."

"Whatever, I want her to get married and have a honeymoon if that is what will make her happy," Casey said walking to the fridge to start lunch. She turned on the radio also to listen to music.

"Well, I would like a honeymoon," Derek commented.

"We are on a honeymoon," Casey said.

"Skipping a family reunion and watching Zachie because he has a cold does not count as a honeymoon."

"Well, I can't go on a honeymoon until the summer and besides you have to make sure your new office here is ready."

"I know, it just seems that the summer is never going to get here," he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her neck softly.

Just then the song 'Happy Ending,' came on the radio. They both paused, not knowing what to do. Casey reached to shut off the radio but Derek stopped her. "No leave it, I like the song, besides it doesn't define us anymore." Casey nodded and pulled her hand away. She turned around in Derek's arms and put her arms around his neck. "You know, Zachie seems very absorbed in his cartoons, maybe you and me can go to your old room and-"

"Derek no!" Casey shouted, smaking him. Derek began to laugh.

"It was just a suggestion." Casey rolled her eyes and was about to say something but didn't get a chance because the front door burst open and in walked Rachel and Mark.

"I knew it was a mistake to keep the door unlocked," Derek muttered as Mark and Rachel walked towards the kitchen.

"So how's the happy couple?" Mark questioned.

"Hey Zachie," Rachel said as she passed him and followed Mark into the kitchen.

"We're fine," Casey said, breaking away from Derek to start lunch. "Do you want to stay for lunch?" Casey asked them.

"Sure," Rachel said, grabbing some of the food to help Casey.

"Hey Mark, why don't we leave these two lovely ladies alone and watch the sports network," Derek suggested, knowing that he would be able to watch sports because Zachie's show was ending.

"Sports, sure," Mark said, trying to sound excited but it wasn't going so well.

"Or the 'Sound of Music,'" Derek said, knowing that Mark would pick musicals over sports any day.

"Sure!" Mark said, now actually really excited.

Casey laughed as she watched Mark and Derek walk back into the living room. She couldn't believe that this was her life now. That it wasn't long ago that she was in that mall, trying to pick out something quick and get back home as fast as she could. It wasn't that long ago that Nora was still in a coma, George in rehab and Derek out of her life.

She had spent six years wishing to go back in time and stop that horrible accident but she realized now that Mark was right. She wouldn't want to go back and change the past, for if she did, she wouldn't have the things she had now. Zachie wouldn't be here, she wouldn't have a steady job that stayed in one spot, she wouldn't have her two best friends, and who knows, maybe she wouldn't have Derek. She didn't even want to think about losing Derek again so she put those thoughts out of her mind while she and Rachel laughed together while making lunch and looking Mark and Derek watching the 'Sound of Music'.

The End!

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